Way to your heart
by lovinpeterpan
Summary: Carey and the twins are leaving the Tipton hotel, but Zack doesn't want to leave Maddie. How far will Zack go just to stay with Maddie? COMPLETE
1. Marry me?

It was a typical day for Maddie, who works as a candy counter girl at the Hotel that morning. There was no school that day so she was assigned by Mr. Moseby to cover the morning shift. The customers aren't awake yet that early so she just sat there, and read some magazines.

Suddenly, the elevator opened and Zack came out running towards Maddie.

"Maddie!", he called her in between his breaths.

She looked surprised upon seeing him.

"Zack! What are you doing here this early?", she put the magazine down and stood up.

"Maddie," he said, "We need to talk. This is urgent." he slowly catches his breath.

Maddie gave him a confused look, and asked, "Urgent? Why, what happened?". She got nervous and worried because Zack isn't usually this serious. In fact, this is the only time she saw him like that.

"Come!", he pulled her arm and dragged her down the hallway where no one can see them.

"Zack, what are you doing? What's wrong? I can't leave the counter too long.," she's still puzzled with Zack's behavior

"Maddie," he looked directly into her eyes, "We are moving out of this hotel next week."

She looked surprised. "Really? Why?"

"My mom's contract here is finished and she's offered a job in another hotel, and we may never see each other again" , he said, still serious.

"Oh... Well, good luck to your mom! I will miss you Zack, and also Cody. Are we gonna have a farewell party before you leave?", she asked, not aware of what's goin' on in Zack's mind.

"That's not what I want to do, Maddie. I'm thinking of something else."

She shrugged and asked, "What is it?"

He looked at her and held her hand.

"Marry me."


	2. We're not dating!

Chapter 2

"What!" she said, quickly pulled her hands from Zack's grip.

"That's the only thing I can think of so we can have a reason to stay together!" he said casually, shoving his hands in his pockets.

She chuckled. "Yeah? okay, I'm gonna call the pastor now, alright? Wait here!" she laughed.

He still maintained a straight face. "You are not taking me seriously, are you?"

And God help him, he was dead serious!

"Um, I don't think you're serious. And granting that you are what made you think it's possible?"

"Why is it not possible?"

"Zack! We're not even dating!" Maddie replied impatiently.

Zack looked surprised.

"Wait. You mean we're not?"

She gave him a stupid look.

"Na-ah." she shook her head

"But all this time I thought you're my girlfriend!" Zack insisted

She rolled her eyes. "Oh please Zack. You always think that every girl you like is your girlfriend."

"But you're different." he said. "You're the love of my life. The girl of my dreams. The girl I want to marry someday." he said in all sincerity.

"Zack—"

"I even have names for our kids already!" Zack interrupted. "If it's a boy, we'll call him Mack. If it's a girl, she'll be called Zaddie. What do you say?" he asked, repeatedly raising his eyebrows up and down.

"Those are weird names!" she said. "And a weird imagination too, Zack!"

"I think those are cute for our little ones!" Zack said

"Look, I gotta go, I have a customer waiting," she said, completely ignoring what Zack just said.

She walked past Zack, but he quickly grabbed her hand to stop her.

"I'll let you go, but we're not yet finished with this talk." Zack whispered

"Okay!" She rolled her eyes, and went straight to the counter.

And Zack was left behind, thinking of ways to convince her to marry him.


	3. Brotherly advice

Chapter 3

Carey was preparing breakfast that morning, and Cody got up just in time.

"Morning mom," Cody greeted and slumps in the couch

"Morning Cody. Zack's still asleep?"

"No, he's not there."

"What do you mean he's not there?"

"I woke up and I didn't see him on his bed. I thought he just went in the bathroom."

"No, I haven't seen him yet. Where could he be?"

Cody shrugged just before the main door opened.

Zack went in without any word and went straight to their bedroom and shut the door.

Carey and Cody looked at each other and both had the confused look.

"What happened to your brother?" Carey asked

"I don't know, I don't even know where he went. Unless….." Cody said suspiciously

"Unless?" Carey asked

"Unless he went to see Maddie in the lobby."

"You mean, Zack woke up earlier than us just to see Maddie?" Carey asked in disbelief

Cody shrugged. "Possibly. You know how he loves her." He said while switching the channels on TV.

"Alright, breakfast is ready. Let's eat altogether so we can pack our things already." Carey said while setting the table

Cody stood up and went in their bedroom. He found his brother sitting at the edge of the bed and looking serious.

"Come on, let's have some breakfast." Cody said

"Go ahead, I'm not hungry yet." he said without any expression

"What's wrong? What's bothering you?" Cody sat next to him

"Cody," he looked up to him, "I need your help."

"If it's about homework, don't worry, I got it covered."

"No, it's a little more complicated than that."

Cody looked at him in hesitation

"Whoa… I hope you're not getting me into trouble again."

"No, Cody."

"Then what is it?"

Zack stood up in front of his brother

"I need to convince Maddie to marry me before we leave."

Cody wanted to laugh and he thought it was one of Zack's silly jokes, but when he looked upon his brother he doesn't look like kidding at all. Strange, he thought. He never saw him like this before.

"Marry? Why?" Cody asked

"So I don't need to leave her."

Cody shook his head in disbelief.

"Well, if you must know my dear brother, you and Maddie are not yet legal to get married. I suggest you wait till you turn 18—"

"That long?" Zack gasped, "Cody, we are leaving in a few days, I'm afraid I'm not turning 18 tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow. I need it now."

Cody smirked.

"You sound desperate."

"I sure am.", Zack replied. "Look, Cody, there must be a way. You're the smarter twin, I'm sure you got better ideas! I need your brains now more than ever." he said

"Okay I need a moment."

Cody walked towards the window and tried to think of better ideas.

"Aha!" he finally said after a few seconds.

"What?" Zack walked towards him, anticipating of what he had to say.

"Zack, why don't you just send her an email, or call her whenever you miss her?" Cody said enthusiastically.

Zack gave him a stupid look

"That's your 'smart idea'"?

"Yes, that's your most "legal" and "trouble-free" option!"

Zack rolled his eyes. "The thing is, I'm not contented with that. If we can't get married, then I guess I'll just have to stay here at Tipton." he said.

"You're crazy! Mom won't allow that!"

Before Zack could even speak, their mom knocked at the door and asked them to eat breakfast with her


	4. Wedding at the Tipton?

Chapter 4

"Aha! You thought I didn't see that, but I did, and Ivana did too!" London came walking towards Maddie at the counter while carrying Ivana in her arm.

Maddie put the magazine down and looked up

"What did you see?"

"You and Zack, in the hallway, talking intimately." London said, resting her arm on the counter.

"Oh," Maddie replied, "It's not intimate at all."

"What did you talk about? It looks interesting." London said

"Well, he was asking me to…." she paused and waved her hand, "oh never mind, it's nothing."

"Oh c'mon, I'm just curious. What did he ask you?" London insisted.

"He asked me to marry him. Can you believe that?" Maddie chuckled.

London got surprised, her hand clasped over her mouth in shock.

"Wow, that's awesome! Yay me! I mean, yay you!" and she did her signature clap

Maddie looked at her in disbelief.

"London, what's so 'yay' about that?"

"He asked you to marry him, isn't that the sweetest thing a guy could ever ask a girl? Hey, can I be your housemaid?" London winked at her

Maddie gave her a stupid look.

"London. You mean bridesmaid?"

"Yeah, yeah whatever."

Maddie just shook her head and replied. "It's sweet, only if it's from the right person."

"You don't think he's the right person?"

"Don't tell me you took that seriously? Remember, we are talking about Zack here!"

"Well, I did! Look, I'm not exactly what you call smart, but when it comes to love, I'm quite good at it. And I think Zack really loves you, trust me on this." she said while she tapped Maddie's shoulder.

Maddie glanced on London's hand on her shoulder and looked at her.

"London, I didn't know you had that sentimental thing in you!" Maddie said

"Thank you!" London said.

Maddie smiled.

"It's sweet, but crazy at the same time. Of course we can't get married. Come on."

"Why not? If you're thinking about the wedding gown, don't worry, that'll be my gift to you!"

"No, not that, silly! I mean, how can I marry him, he's too young, we are too young. And Zack? Please. I love him as a brother."

"A brother..."

"Yes, as a brother. What else should a 16 year old girl feel for a 13 year old boy?"

"Can we set aside the age issues for a sec? Let's say Zack's 16 years old right now, same age as you, you think you'd fall for him?"

Maddie thought about it.

"See, the thing is…"

"Just yes or no, Maddie."

"N-no?"

London looked at her suspiciously.

"Well, okay, I might!"

"Just yes or no." London pressured her more.

Maddie finally gave up.

"Okay, yes!" Maddie rolled her eyes.

"See? Age is not a big deal!"

"It is to me. And I can't feel anything for him but brotherly love."

London sighed.

"That's really sad. I thought there's gonna be a wedding in the Tipton."

"And who's getting married here in the Tipton, London?", Mr Moseby walked towards them and overheard her.

Maddie and London looked at each other.

"um… its—", Maddie tried to explain

"--Us!", Zack interrupted while coming out of the elevator with Cody behind him

Mr Moseby looked at them in disgust.

"You? And Cody?"

"No!", the twins said in unison.

Zack headed to the counter and stood next to Maddie

"Maddie and I. Here in the Tipton. With your permission, of course!" Zack said.

All of them looked at each other and waited for Moseby's reaction.

"Maddie? You didn't tell me you we're getting married!"

"I had no idea either!" Maddie said, confused.

"Sorry Mr. Moseby, we can't give you any information right now, we haven't finished talking about it, have we Maddie?" Zack said.

Maddie didn't reply. She looked uncomfortable.

"Excuse us, we need to talk privately. Mr Moseby, you think I can borrow Maddie for a few minutes?"

Mr. Moseby was hesitant.

"But who will cover her shift?" he asked.

"I can! I just need a calculator and a person who can teach me how to use it!" London volunteered.

Mr Moseby cringed.

"Oh no, no, London, I don't think you're the right person for this."

"I can do it!" Cody said, walking behind the counter, "and I don't need a calculator!"

"Alright, alright, just get back immediately!" Mr Moseby finally agreed, still confused of the whole wedding thing.

"Thanks Mr. Moseby! Be back soon!" Zack said, grabbed Maddie's hand and dragged her to the elevator. He mouthed, "thank you!" to Cody before the elevator closed.

"London, what is going on?" Mr. Moseby asked

"I don't know. I'll find out when Maddie comes back! In the meantime, I'll shop for my gown!" London walked away.

Moseby just shrugged and went to back to his work.


	5. Last dance

_Author's note: Thanks for the wonderful comments and I'm sorry this one took so long. I hope you like it. _

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Chapter 5

"Where to, Zack?" Maddie asked.

Zack pushed the "23" button.

"To the suite. People starts to pour in to the lobby and we don't want to be disturbed."

"Zack, if we're going to talk about—"

"Hold it, Maddie. I know you're excited to discuss it but let's wait till we get there!" Zack replied.

Maddie just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

The elevator finally hit 23rd floor. Neither of them talked while walking in the hallway. Zack seemed preoccupied of million thoughts in his head.

When they finally reached the suite, Zack knocked and Carey opened the door, letting Maddie and Zack in.

"Hi Maddie! Aren't you working today? Zack where's Cody?" Carey asked while shutting the door behind her.

"I do work today, and Cody's—"

"—stretching his old coconut!" Zack interrupted.

Carey looked at him in confusion

"Stretching what?"

Zack glanced at Maddie before replying

"He wants to experience selling…"

"So he's working downstairs?"Carey asked.

"Don't worry mom, he's having fun!"

Carey just shrugged.

"Well, you better tell him to come up here to help me pack up." Carey said.

"Are you really leaving?" Maddie asked.

"Yes sweetie." Carey said. "It's really hard to leave this hotel, It's hard to leave the people that has been a part of your life for two years."

This is good. Zack thought. Mom will understand why I can't leave Maddie.

Maddie frowned.

"But why so soon?"

"It's the management's decision not to renew my contract, but at least they're nice enough to refer me to the newly opened hotel in Detroit, and they need me to be there by next week."

Maddie sighed and sat in one of the dining chairs.

"What would I do without you? You're like my second family already."

"And you're like a daughter that I never had. Maddie, you're a sweet girl, and I want you to keep in mind that you can call us anytime if you need anything. You have been so good to my boys and I can't thank you enough."

"Thank you Carey. That's so sweet."

Zack interrupted by clearing his throat.

"Mom, I think you should go in the lobby to see how Cody rocks the candy counter! That kid can sell!"

"Okay, but when I get back here you better start packing, we don't have much time honey. Oh, are you here Maddie to help Zack pack things up?"

"Y-yes, yes that's why she's here! Right, Maddie?"

"S-sure!" Maddie nodded hesitantly

"Thank you so much Maddie! I'll be right back!"

Zack shut the door and slumped on the couch.

"C'mon Zack, let's pack your things." Maddie said with sadness in her voice.

"I don't want to leave, Maddie." Zack said without looking at her.

Maddie sat next to him.

"Don't worry. You're going to meet new friends there in no time." she said trying to console him.

"I don't want new friends. I just want to stay here and be with you. There's nothing in the world that will convince me to move there… unless of course if you're moving with us, but otherwise..."

"I wish I can be there with you guys…"

"Can you come live with us?" Zack asked.

Maddie smiled.

"No, Zack. I can't leave mom, dad, and Liam. My family needs me as much as your family needs you. You shouldn't disappoint them."

"Will it disappoint them if we get married?"

Maddie chuckled a bit. "Zack, we can't get married."

"I know. Cody explained to me already that there's no law that allows it, but that's only in the US. What about in other countries? Do you know one where they allow minors to get married?"

Maddie pushed a few strands of zack's hair away from his eyes.

"Zack, listen to me. It's gonna be fine. Trust me, you'll probably miss me in the first few weeks, but after that, you'll eventually forget about me, and you'll find new friends. It's gonna be easier than you think."

A long silence followed.

"Don't you like me?" Zack finally asked.

"Huh?"

He stood up and walked towards the window behind the couch.

"It seems like you're pushing me away, and I don't know why. Maybe you never really liked me," he paused and turned around to face Maddie, "…but you know what, that's okay. I still love you, and even if you hate me forever, my feelings won't change."

"I don't hate you Zack. Why would I? You're one of the sweetest guys I've ever met. I know I treated you so bad and I've been mean to you but to tell you the truth, I really find it cute when you flirt with me. If you we're a little older, I'd definitely fall for you."

Maddie gasped and clasped her mouth. She was not supposed to say that. It was not a good idea to give Zack any more hope...

"Really?" he said in amazement.

...But she couldn't lie to him.

Maddie nodded hesitantly.

"Yeah."

"Why don't you fall for me now? Is it my fault that I was born a little too late?"

"Zack, the age gap is pretty awkward. You have to find girls around your age, and I have to do the same. It's much better that way."

Zack sighed. He walked in front and turned on the radio.

"Remember when I first taught you how to dance for your prom on this very same spot?"

"Yes. You were a great teacher."

Zack lifted his head and smiled sadly, "Can I have this dance, again?"

Maddie stood up smiling and walked towards Zack.

Zack took her in his arms and held her close to him. A slow enchanting melody was drifting from the speakers. She laid her head on his head and they closed their eyes to savor the moment. They slow danced, completely oblivious to the reality that it may be their last dance.


	6. Zack's plan

_Author's note: Thank you so much, a big hug to all of you for your wonderful comments. I hope you like this update.  I featured the song "Memory" since it's supposed to be the song they are dancing to. read on..._

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"_Touch me,  
Its so easy to leave me  
All alone with the memory  
Of my days in the sun  
If you'll touch me,  
You'll understand what happiness is  
Look, a new day has begun..."_

They slow danced for what it seemed like forever. They swayed gently in each other's arms.

"Maddie…"

She opened her eyes and looked down to find Zack was already looking up at her, eyes glowing softly.

"What is it, Zack?"

"Can you promise me one thing?"

"Sure anything…"

"Can you promise not to let other guys dance with you this close?"

Her lips formed a sweet smile.

"Zack, that is so sweet…"

"You promise?", Zack held his breath while waiting for her response.

She held his gaze for a second and replied.

"I promise."

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The music had ended, just in time when Carey opened the door. They immediately pulled away from each other.

"Yup, Cody seems enjoying it, but Mr. Moseby is now looking for you, Maddie. I'm sorry I thought you were here to help us pack things up, I didn't know Zack dragged you here.", Carey glared at Zack

"Oh, that's okay, I better get down before I lose my job. I'll help you though when I'm not busy."

"Thanks Maddie, you're such an angel!"

No wonder she looks like one, Zack thought.

"You're welcome. See you later Carey…", Maddie turned to him, "Zack."

Zack just raised his palm without looking at her, and Maddie left.

Carey shut the door and turned to Zack.

"What is going on here? Mr. Moseby said you were talking about marrying Maddie?"

Zack looked down and said, "That's not gonna happen anymore, mom. Don't worry, you're not going to lose your son yet." he walked inside his room and shut the door.

Carey was left dumfounded.

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"How's it going Cody?" asked Maddie as she reached the candy counter.

"I'm loving this! Can I do this again?" Cody asked enthusiastically, but his face darkened immediately. "Oh yeah, we're moving. I almost forgot."

Maddie smiled sadly while she switched places with Cody.

"Thanks for relieving me Cody, I really appreciate it."

"No problem!" Cody said, "So... how did it go?"

"What do you mean?" Maddie asked.

Cody looked around first to see if Mr. Moseby eavesdropping at them, then he whispered, "The talk you had with Zack. How was it?"

Maddie heaved a deep sigh before talking.

"He seems low. Cody, cheer him up for me, please?"

Cody got confused by that but he didn't ask any further. He just nodded and went straight to the elevator to ask Zack. Darn, he thought. Something went wrong.

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"Mom, where's Zack?" asked Cody as soon as he entered the suite.

"He's in the room. Can you help your brother pack his things? He hasn't started packing yet, and it's making me crazy!" Carey said while wrapping the picture frames with a bubble wrap.

Cody went straight to the room and there he found his brother, sitting at the edge of the bed, just exactly the way he found him this morning.

"Zack? You haven't even touched your things. What's the matter? What did she say?"

Zack looked at him and shook his head.

"I told you so..." Cody said with his arms crossed

"What will I do?"

"I don't know either. As much as I want to help you, I really don't know how."

Zack didn't reply, but tears are forming in his eyes and Cody noticed it.

"Heyyyyyy…. You're not going to cry, are you?"

Just after he finished his question, a tear trickled down Zack's face effortlessly, but his face remained blank, no expression at all.

Cody was rather shocked. The last time he saw Zack cried was when their parents got separated.

"Alright, That's it! Tell me what happened. What did Maddie say?" Cody demanded.

"She doesn't want me to stay, and she doesn't want to come with us either." his voice cracked.

Cody feels sorry for his brother.

"Well… you can't waste your life loving someone who can't love you back."

Zack lowered his head and whimpered silently.

Oh boy, what did I say? Cody asked himself. He tried to comfort his brother.

"Zack... I wish I can help you… I really do. But we have to leave. We have to do this for mom. Don't you love mom?"

"Why can't we all stay together? I can't choose between mom and Maddie. They both mean the world to me."

Cody sighed.

A few moments later, Zack wiped his tears, stood up, put on his shoes and got dressed.

"Where are you going?"

"Somewhere."

"Can I go with you?"

"No."

"You haven't packed your things yet."

"I will as soon as I get back. I just need to do this."

"Does it have something to do with Maddie?"

"I think so."

"Okay, but don't do anything stupid!"

"Hopefully."

And he left Cody completely puzzled.


	7. Trip to the park

"Just where do you think you're going, young man?"

Carey was folding her clothes on the table at the moment when she saw Zack heading to the main door.

"I'm going to meet Bob in the park." he said casually.

Carey looked up to him.

"What for?"

"He's going to return the money that he owes me."

She raised her eyebrow at him.

"He owes you money?"

"Y-Yeah. I asked him to return it before we leave because it's..." he looked around before continuing, "...Cody's money." he whispered.

"What?!"

Carey stared at him for a moment and shrugged.

"Alright. But you better be back before it gets dark. You seriously need to start packing up, you can't rely on Cody all the time, honey."

"Will do, mom! Love you!"

With that, Zack stormed out, and Carey somehow felt that she made the wrong decision.

"Love you too." Carey mouthed and continued her task

* * *

"Hey Maddie!" Zack greeted. He looked upbeat, as if nothing transpired awhile ago.

Maddie was re-arranging the candy bars when he found her and she looked surprised upon seeing Zack.

"Oh hey Zack! Looks like you're going somewhere." she replied.

Zack rested his right elbow on the counter before speaking.

"Actually, WE are going somewhere!" he enthusiastically replied and raised his eyebrow twice.

Maddie tilted her head.

"We?"

"Yeah, you will come with me to meet Bob. Mom wouldn't allow me to go alone so I figured, I'd take you."

"Don't know. I'm still working. I'll have to check with Mr. Moseby first, but he's in the kitchen right now."

"I already asked Moseby and he approved, now c'mon let's go, Bob's waiting!" Zack insisted.

Maddie crossed her arms and looked down on him. Why was Moseby extra nice to her today?

"He approved?"

"I'm positive! I just talked to him! We're going to be really quick, I promise!" he said in a very reassuring manner.

She figured, well, he was going to leave in a matter of days and she wouldn't see him for a long time. It was bad enough that she broke the poor boy's heart awhile ago. The least she could do is to give his simple request.

"Okay, I'm going with you!"

Zack's face enlightened and yelled "YES!" with the left-right hand motion that goes with it.

Maddie chuckled.

"But we need to get back immediately!"

"Anything you say, sweet thang!"

Maddie put the "closed" sign on the counter and followed Zack on the way out.

* * *

They rode the city bus and sat next to each other.

"Zack, are you okay?" Maddie broke the silence.

Zack looked surprised with the question "Yeah, why?"

"Aren't you mad at me? I mean, because of the "wedding" thing?"

"Of course not! Let's forget about it, I know it's such a ridiculous thing to ask of you."

"I'm glad to hear that. I really don't want us to have conflicts. We're friends. And I like to keep it that way."

"I understand Maddie. I understand…"

* * *

"Maddie!!! I just shopped for my gown! It's so pretty, and no one can afford it but me! YAY me!"

London announced as soon as she entered the Lobby, but noticed that Maddie wasn't in her usual spot.

She walked closer and looked behind the counter. "Maddie?" She turned to Moseby, who was in the reception desk, directly across the candy counter. He was busy talking to a guest when London interrupted.

"Moseby, where's Maddie?" she asked him.

"In the Candy Coun—", he cut himself when he didn't see Maddie in the counter.

He politely excused himself from the guest and talked to London.

"Where's my candy counter girl?" he asked, looking totally confused.

"I don't know! Anyway, when you find her, tell her to come to my suite! Can't wait to show her the other stuffs I bought for her 'big day!'", before Moseby can even react, London turned away and walked like a runway model.

Moseby looked pissed. Where could she be? And how long has she been gone? She already took her break, and her shift doesn't end in the next 3 hours.

He decided to contact her house, but her grandma said she wasn't there. He then called the Martins' suite. Just in case.

"Hello Carey, it's Moseby. Is Maddie there?"

"No, she's not. Why?"

"She left the counter without my permission when she's supposed to be here for a couple more hours."

"Oh… that's odd. Did you check London's suite? She might be hanging out there."

"London doesn't know where she is either. I called her house but no luck."

"Oh… Okay… If she ever drops by, I'll let you know at once. She should be just somewhere in the hotel."

"Thanks Carey." Moseby hung up.

Cody came out of his room after cleaning up and organizing some of Zack's things.

"Who was that mom?" Cody plopped the couch and grabbed the remote.

"Mr. Moseby. He was looking for Maddie, he couldn't find her anywhere."

Cody's eyes widened

"Maddie's missing?"

"Yeah sort of."

Zack… he thought. Holy buckets, what did you do again?

* * *

"Zack, we've been walking forever and we couldn't find Bob. Are you sure he's going to come?" Maddie looked tired and impatient. The bus dropped them off in a park she hadn't seen before. That was where he was supposed to meet Bob, according to Zack.

"Do you want to rest? We can sit by the bench." he offered and pointed at the bench nearby.

"Yeah, let's rest for a few minutes, and after this we're going home. I don't think Bob will show up anymore."

They sat in one of the benches with a huge tree behind it.

Maddie plopped down lazily and leaned against the tree.

"I'm so tired…" she muttered under her breath and closed her eyes.

Zack felt guilty upon seeing Maddie like that.

"Um, do you want a massage?" He offered.

"I would love to but, nevermind."

"C'mon, I insist! Mom likes it when I massage her!"

"Really?" she sounded interested.

"Yeah, you didn't know that about me huh?!"

Maddie smiled.

"Well.. okay, if you insist!"

Zack began massaging her hand, her arm, her shoulder.

"Wow, you are good!" Maddie complimented.

"Thanks!" he said. "Look, I'm sorry, Maddie…"

"Its okay, Zack. It's not your fault that Bob didn't show up," she replied without opening her eyes.

"No. Actually, I didn't really come here to meet Bob."

Maddie opened her eyes and glared at him

"WHAT?!"

* * *

_A/N: Thank you so much again for the comments! I know this is not nearly good enough compared to other fanfics, but I'm trying my best to improve my writing. I hope you like it, and I'm going to update soon. :) _


	8. Truth and lies

CHAPTER 8

Maddie pulled her arm from Zack's grip and stared at him, waiting for an explanation.

Zack closed his eyes and heaved a deep sigh. _I told you Zack. You can't pull this. Face it, lying to Maddie is not your forte! Now what? How are you going to explain it without getting your ass kicked?_

Maddie grew impatient. "Well… I'm waiting Zack…"

Zack looked down, he couldn't look straight to her eyes.

"I lied to everyone." Zack humbly said. "Mom thought I was going to meet Bob, and I didn't ask Moseby's permission to take you with me."

Maddie was still confused.

"So what's the deal? If you're not really meeting Bob, then what on earth are we doing here?"

He glanced at her quickly and he looked away.

"To tell you the truth," Zack said, "I was planning to... kidnap you."

The last two words almost didn't come out of his mouth.

Maddie's eyes widened..

"Kidnap…. Me?" she couldn't believe her ears.

She stood up in front of him.

"Zack, what are you thinking!" Maddie asked furiously.

"What am I thinking?" he paused to gather his thoughts. "I'm thinking of taking you somewhere where it'll be just the two us, spending time with each other, but… I can't lie to you, Maddie. I really tried, but… here I am, I betrayed myself." He explained, trying to soften her somehow.

She tried not to be "bought" by Zack's sweet words.

"First of all, I don't fall into the "kid" category so that's not really kid-nap. Second of all, didn't you know that kidnapping is a crime?"

Zack looked up to her and tears are forming in his eyes. The word "crime" sent shiver down his spine.

"Is it a crime if I want to spend a little more time with the girl I'm madly in love with, knowing that in just merely two days, I might never see her again?"

Maddie was silent. She didn't know how to respond to that.

"I know you're upset, and you probably will never forgive me. So go ahead, yell at me, humiliate me, I don't know. Just do whatever you want to do with me, I'll accept it like a real man."

Maddie's anger all melted with what he said. She sat down and talked to Zack with a lower tone.

"Why didn't you just tell me your plan so you didn't have to lie to everyone?"

Slightly confused with the sudden change of her mood, he replied, "because I know you'll just reject me, like you always do."

Feeling guilty, Maddie moved closer to Zack.

"Zack, I'm sorry you feel that way. You've always been nice to me and you do the things I can only dream a guy would do for me. I don't know why I treated you so bad. Actually, I'm the one who owes you an apology for being insensitive. Forgive me?"

Zack couldn't believe his ears. Maddie finally cared about him?

"You don't owe me an apology, Maddie. I love you for who you are, and yes, even your mean-ness to me."

Maddie chuckled.

They didn't realize that the rain started to pour down. First it was just a drizzle, then it rained really hard before they knew it.

"Oh my gosh, where did this rain come from? Wasn't it real sunny when we got in here a few minutes ago?" Maddie complained.

The sky was dark. Thunder roared. The wind blew hard. Everyone at the park ran for cover. Lucky for Zack and Maddie, the tree behind them was big enough to protect them temporarily from the heavy winds and pouring rain.

"I don't think we can go to the bus station in this weather. Let me just call your mom and tell her you're ok." she talked a little louder, trying to "fight" the loud sound of pouring rain.

She searched into her pocket, and slapped her forehead.

"What's the matter?" asked Zack.

"I left my cell phone! I'm so stupid! I can't believe this; I never leave my phone wherever I go!" she started to panic.

"Why don't we try to get to the bus station while it's not flooded yet?"

"I don't think that's a good idea. It can be dangerous, and frankly, I'm scared of thunder!"

"So, does it mean we're stuck here?"

"I guess we are."

"Oddly," he said," I'm okay with that!"

She rolled her eyes and laughed. Her long, blonde hair blew gently in the wind, trailing across her delicate face. Zack glanced at her, and smiled.

"You're darn beautiful Maddie…"

Maddie turned bright red.

"And you are a handsome boy—", she paused, "man yourself, Zack." She bit her lip, slightly embarrased with what she said.

"Really?" he excitedly asked, "you think so?"

It was true, she had always found him good-looking, but never really got romantically attracted to him. Yes, he could be annoying sometimes, but she couldn't deny the fact that he's actually got a face that could melt any sane girl's heart.

Weird, she thought. Cody's got the same face, but there was something about Zack that is so appealing.

Stop it, Maddie, she told herself. How can you think of such things when you're stuck in the rain, and probably have lost your job already?

Her thoughts were interrupted when a loud thunder roared, and it made her cringe. She started to feel so cold. Zack noticed she's shaking.

"You okay, Maddie?" he looked worried.

"Y-yeah, just a little cold." she said while shivering.

Without a word, Zack took off his leather jacket and placed it on Maddie's shoulder.

"But what about you?"

"You need it more than I do. Don't worry about me."

"Are you sure?"

"Never been so sure."

"Thanks."

"No problem. I'm your man, and that's what man do!"

"I think I heard that before."

"You sure did!" he chuckled.

The leather jacket that Zack put on her made her warm and comfy. She felt better.

"Oh my God Cody, where's your brother? The rain looks terrible, what happened to him?"

Carey was getting worried that Zack might be stranded because of the rain.

Oddly, Cody didn't feel worried about his brother. He knew somehow that he's fine. Must be a twin thing.

"Don't worry mom, I think he's fine wherever he is." Cody replied while helping his mother fold the clothes.

That didn't calm Carey down.

"Give me Bob's number, Cody, now!" she ordered.

Cody grabbed his phone book and gave it to her. Carey dialed the number.

"Hello, is Bob there? Bob?" her eyes widened "I thought you are going to meet up with Zack? What do you mean no? Oh God. He's still not here, and I'm really worried! Okay thanks Bob." she hung up, totally perplexed

"Cody, Bob has no idea where Zack is. Now where is he!" She was already freaking out.

"Mom, calm down. Stop panicking. Zack is fine, trust me. My twin telepathy tells me so!" Cody said as he tries to calm his mom down.

"I shouldn't have allowed him to go out!" she exclaimed while pacing back and forth.

"Didn't he tell you where he's going?" she turned to Cody.

"He never told me where he's going. But I…."

"What?" she stopped walking.

"I… I think Zack has something to do with Maddie's disappearance."

Carey glared at Cody as if she didn't understand English.

HALF AN HOUR LATER

"Oh, this sucks! It's starting to flood!" Maddie said.

It's been half an hour and the rain kept pouring down.

"Yeah, but look on the brighter side. We're lucky to have found this big tree that keeps us from getting wet."

"Well, not totally! The wind is blowing the rain in our direction!"

"Calm down, it'll end soon!"

"Well I hope it will before my asthma attacks!"

"Don't worry, I know CPR." he winked at her.

"." she said flatly

Zack smiled and noticed something behind Maddie.

"Look Maddie!"

Zack pointed out the people in the park who started to get out of the shelter and walk into their cars.

"I think the rain's not that bad anymore. Let's go Zack, c'mon! Let's get out of here before this rain gets crazy again!"

The kidnap thing didn't turn out as planned, but THIS was definitely way better than he expected! He found out that Maddie cared about his feelings, she thought he was handsome... how AWESOME could it get? I'm so proud to be Zack, he told himself.

"What are you smiling at?" asked Maddie.

He just shook his head and walked towards the bus stop.

It didn't take them long to wait for a bus. As soon as they reached the bus stop, the bus was approaching.

When Zack walked inside the bus, he felt nauseous. He squeezed Maddie's hand tight and closed his eyes.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"I'm fine… I'm just feeling weak."

"Here, hold my hand, I'll help you."

They finally found a seat at the far back of the bus.

Zack felt so tired and the headache got worse. He leaned on Maddie's shoulder and she felt something.

"Zack, you're hot!"

Zack grinned. "Why, thank you! Although I knew that already!"

"No, you're burning up!" she placed her palm on his forehead, "you got fever!" She took off the jacket on her shoulder and placed it back on Zack's, "Here, it'll warm you up!"

"But I'm not cold."

"You're shivering silly!"

"Well you make me shiver, baby!" he blurted.

"Zack, that's not funny, you are seriously sick! I'll take you to my house in the meantime since it's just a few blocks away. I'll just call your mom as soon as we arrive."

Zack chuckled.

"What!"

"Did I ever tell you that you're pretty when you're panicking?"

"Ugh, you're even worse when you're sick!"

* * *

**A/N: As promised, I updated soon. Thank you for reading and commenting, I really, really appreciate it! I hope you like it!  
**

**Ghostwriter - I'm sorry for the confusion! I hope this chapter clears it up. I hope. :)  
H.P Surfer - Thank you so much!  
Lennie1984 - Thank you! I'm trying, I really am. :)  
DracoLuvsGinny - Thank you so much!  
**

**Thank you all! **


	9. Zack's got fever

The bus finally reached the Fitzpatrick residence, and she almost carried Zack on their way out because he couldn't walk properly.

"Excuse me, pardon me, coming through, thanks!" she said, trying to squeeze in between the standing people in the aisle of the bus. Zack was too weak to walk by himself so he clung on to Maddie's waist the whole time.

When they reached the door of the house, she pounded repeatedly until her grandma answered the door.

"Madeline! Are you trying to break the door?"

Maddie didn't answer. She went straight to her bedroom instead and laid Zack down on the extra bed. Her grandma followed her, totally confused with what's goin on.

"Grandma, I need help!"

"What happened to him? Where have you been? Moseby called up awhile ago, he was looking for you!"

"I'll tell you everything later, he's got fever so I took him with me. Can you please look after him while I call Carey?"

"Oh, yes of course, I'll go give him medicine."

"Thanks grandma!"

She grabbed her cell phone on the table and dialed Carey's number

"Carey, hi! Listen… yeah I'm with Zack. Don't worry; he's in my house now. I'm sorry I didn't let you know; I left my cell phone at home. It's a long story, I'll tell you later but for now, Zack's got fever and I decided to take him in my house because I don't want him to travel all the way to the Tipton. Okay Carey, I'll see you in a bit. Oh, can you please tell Moseby I'll just talk to him tomorrow? Thanks. Bye."

She heaved a deep sigh and watched as her grandma tries to lower Zack's fever by wiping his wet skin with dry towels

"Grandma, is he going to be okay?" she had the worried look on her face.

"Of course he is. It's only a fever, Maddie. Relax."

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have let him take his jacket off for me."

Zack groans, "Ugh, it's so cold..." he mumbled.

"He's soaking wet. I'll go get him dry clothes and you dress him up." grandma said.

Shocked, Maddie faced her grandma. "Excuse me?"

"He needs to change his clothes immediately, otherwise he's bound to get sicker." she explained.

Maddie gathered her thoughts before replying.

"You mean, I'll undress him? Like, take off all his clothes?" she said with the disgusted look on her face.

Grandma nodded.

"Eew!!!" she exclaimed. "How about I'm getting the dry clothes, and you do 'dressing up' part!" she suggested.

"What's wrong? You did that to Liam when he was sick!"

"Grandma!" she was pleading.

Zack chuckled softly.

"And what's so funny, Zack?" Maddie turned to him.

"You!" he replied. "You should see the look on your face!"

Maddie raised her eyebrow and gave him a sharp look.

Zack shifted his gaze to grandma and did a puppy-dog look. "Your granddaughter's not being so nice to me…" he said and stuck out his lower lip, trying to get grandma's sympathy.

Maddie dropped her jaw a little bit and crossed her arms.

"Madeline! Help him change his clothes!" Grandma ordered.

Before Maddie could protest, Zack interrupted, "No, it's okay, I can do it myself." he said, totally amused with Maddie's horrified reaction.

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Good!" with that, Maddie walked out of the room to get clothes.

"Here son, drink this, it'll make you feel better."

Grandma lifted Zack's head and helped him drink the medicine tablet

"Thanks." He said.

While putting the ice bag on Zack's forehead, she remembered something.

"Aren't you the boy who went to Madeline's 16th birthday and brought her gift?"

Zack smiled weakly because of the pain in his head. "That's me."

"Oh, so you're the one she's telling me about..."

"What did she say about me?" Zack got really curious.

"Oh. She tells me all the funny things you do to win her."

"It's funnier when she rejects me… and that made me like her more…" he replied.

Grandma nodded slowly.

"I can see you are really fond of her.."

"You think…. I have a chance…. With her? I mean, with the age gap we have, I doubt if she'll ever date me..." he said while trying to catch his breath in between his words.

"She hasn't mentioned anything, but don't you lose hope. When I married her grandfather, I was 25 and he was 22. I didn't like him at first, I looked at him as a stupid little annoying kid who wouldn't leave me alone. Then finally one day, I don't know, I started to miss him when he's not around, and I realized, I love him and I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life…" Grandma narrated in a dreamy-state.

"That was nice, grandma… Thank you for sharing that…"

Maddie finally walked in with the dry set of PJs.

"Here you go Zack, we'll close the door for you. If you need help, we're just right on the other side of the door, okay?"

Maddie helped him sit up.

"Thanks…" he said.

Maddie and her grandma went out and shut the door.

"How is he?" Maddie asked.

"I gave him medicine, I think it'll put him to sleep."

Maddie nodded. Grandma looked at her from head to foot.

"And you, why aren't you changing your clothes yet? You're still wet, do you want to get sick too?"

"It didn't cross my mind anymore. I'm so worried about him, but I'll do it, I just want to make sure he's fine."

Before grandma can respond, Zack called softly, "Maddie…"

"Go check him, I need to continue my cooking." with that, grandma left.

She opened the door and found Zack all dressed up. Maddie smiled at him.

"Feeling better?"

Zack nodded.

"Okay, you need to lay down now"

She helped him lay down slowly, gently guiding his head, and covered him with thick blanket.

"Thanks," he mouthed.

She smiled at him and sat on the bed.

"I called your mom up. She knows you're here, and she'll be here any minute to pick you up."

Zack looked down.

"What's the matter?"

"I'm sorry Maddie, I wasn't thinking. This is my entire fault…"

"It's all good now Zack, I'm not mad at you." Maddie interrupted.

"What about mom?"

"She just got really worried, but she's not mad, I can guarantee you that."

"Thanks Maddie."

"You're welcome! You rest well, okay? I will not close the door so I'll know if you need anything."

"Where are you going? Can't you stay?"

"I'll be back as soon as I can, I just need to clean up after myself, I feel so dirty with all that mud and rain.. but I'll be back!"

"Okay..."

Maddie stood up and walked towards the door when Liam passed by and stopped when he saw Zack.

"Hey, it's the creepy dweeb!" he exclaimed.

"Booger, my man!" Zack managed to greet him somehow despite of his condition.

"Lay off Liam, he's sick, don't bother him!" she grabbed Liam's hand and smiled at Zack before walking out.

Zack yawned. He felt his eyes are getting heavy, and he drifted into sleep almost instantly.

* * *

**_A/N: WOW. I was surprised with the comments I got from the last chapter, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'm so happy that you guys liked it, it meant an awful lot to me:) I hope you like this update:)_**

**_Lennie1984, DramaQueen94, Starship Gazer, Ghostwriter 626, 16, DracoLuvsGinny, hayzxx, Rongo_**

_**Thank you for reading and commenting! I hope you all stick around till the end. :)**_


	10. Carey's plea

Carey marched out of the bathroom and went straight to the walk-in closet. "Let's go, Cody! We're going to Maddie's house." Carey said while putting her coat on.

"What happened to Zack?" Cody asked.

"Your brother's sick, and we're going to pick him up. Let's go!"

Cody got up and followed her mom to the door.

**XxX **

Carey and Cody went out of the elevator and spotted Moseby in the lobby.

"Moseby." Carey called.

He turned around and got a little surprised upon seeing them.

"Maddie just called." Carey informed him.

"Where is she? What did she say?"

"She's with Zack. I don't know how it happened, but I'm going there to find out."

Moseby changed his expression from confusion to anger.

"Unbelievable. I just went in the kitchen, and when I got back, she's gone!"

"Moseby, I'm sure there's a vaild reason. You know how Maddie is, she's a good employee." she explained, trying to ease off Moseby's anger.

He took a deep breath.

"Okay, just tell her to be here tomorrow, I want to have a word with her."

Carey nodded and they headed for Maddie's house.

**XxX**

After taking a warm shower and slipping in her PJs, Maddie headed straight to the dining table when she sniffed the delicious smell of the hot chicken soup her grandma cooked. She felt her stomach growled.

"Mmmm…" she said after sipping a spoonful. "The best chicken soup in the world!" she exclaimed in delight.

Grandma just smiled. She's used to get compliments from Maddie when it comes to her cooking.

"So how's Zack?" she asked.

"He's sleeping now."

She nodded. She noticed her grandma winced while washing the dishes.

"Is something wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"My back is killing me." she replied softly.

"Oh..." she stopped eating for a second, "I think you need to go get some rest, grandma."

Before she responded, there was a knock on the door.

Maddie stood up. "I'll get it, it must be them. Grandma, just leave the dishes, please! I'll take care of them!"

"Okay. Just tell your visitors I said hi." and she headed to her room.

"Sure! Goodnight!" Maddie said and headed towards the door to open it.

She was right. It was Carey and Cody. "Hi!" Carey said. Cody smiled at her.

"Hi! Come on in!" she opened the door wider to let them in.

"Zack's in the room to your left." she said while closing the door behind her, and then followed them. She led them to the bedroom and turned the dim light on, next to Zack's bed.

Carey sat on the bed where Zack was sleeping. "How is he?" she asked as he looked down on Zack and touched his forehead. He didn't even move a bit.

"He's still hot, but the tablet grandma gave him should lower his temperature." Maddie replied. "He fell asleep immediately, maybe because of the medicine." she continued.

Cody looked down on his sleeping brother and shook his head._ I told you not to do anything stupid, you boob_, Cody thought. _Sometimes I'm not sure if we really share the same DNA._

"If you need to be alone with him, I'll close the door." Maddie offered.

"No Maddie, it's okay, we won't be staying too long." Carey declined.

"Oh, okay, I'll just put Zack's wet clothes in the bag so you can take him home." she was about to exit the room when Carey spoke again.

"Actually Maddie," Maddie stopped and turned around. "If it's not too much of a bother, can... uh... Zack stay here for the night?"

Based on Carey's facial expressions, it was obvious that she was also unsure of her decision. What if Maddie declined? What if she didn't want Zack to stay? What if she didn't want to look after him?

Maddie and Cody looked at each other with the same confused facial expression.

Carey continued, "Well, looks like he's in deep sleep and I don't want to ruin it. Do you think you can let him spend the night here and I'll pick him up tomorrow when he wakes up?"

Although she wasn't expecting that, she smiled.

"No problem Carey, it's definitely not a bother! I'll watch over him for you." Maddie assured.

Carey looked a bit surprised! "Really? Thanks!!"

Carey leaned forward and kissed Zack's forehead. She then glared at Cody.

"What?" Cody asked.

"Aren't you going to kiss your brother?"

"EW! Mom! Why would I do that?" he said, totally disgusted of the idea.

"Well, he's not going to sleep with us tonight, you'll miss him."

Cody gave her a stupid look.

"Miss him? Please!" he chuckled sarcastically.

Carey just shrugged and stood up. "Well then, let's get out of here before we wake him up."

They transferred to the living room and sat on the couch.

"So, Maddie, what really happened?" Carey asked.

She took a deep breath before replying.

"Well, Zack approached me and said that he was going to meet Bob, and you wouldn't let him go alone, so I went with him. When we got there, he told me the truth…"

"...because he loves you and can't lie to you?" Cody interrupted.

"Well, that's pretty much the same thing he told me..." Maddie nodded. Cody rolled his eyes. _He's totally nuts for her_.

"Anyway, he told me that he lied to all of us. He wasn't really going to meet Bob, and he didn't ask for Moseby's permission to take me."

"But why did he lie? Why did he make up such stories?" Carey glanced at Cody.

"Um, well…" she looked down on her feet before continuing, "he said he was planning to "kidnap" me so we can spend time alone together before he leaves. That's what he said."

Cody shook his head. "I am not surprised..."

"Oh..." Carey gasped, "I am so sorry he did this. I know it's hard for him to leave you, but I didn't know he would come this far!"

Maddie looked up and smiled. "It's okay Carey, we've talked about it and I forgive him. There's no point in staying mad at all."

"You're too nice. Thanks for understanding..."

"No problem. Zack's no different to me."

Carey smiled and glanced at Cody. He yawned and looked sleepy.

"We better go. Thanks again, Maddie. Thanks for taking him here!" Carey stood up, followed by Cody.

"You're welcome!"

"And when he wakes up, tell him I'll pick him up in the afternoon because I have a meeting with an important person in the morning. Is that okay, Maddie?"

"Uh... yeah! I'm not working tomorrow, so I can watch him for you."

'Thank you so much, Maddie!" Carey hugged her to her surprise, "Oh and Moseby said he wants a word with you tomorrow. I'll help you explain everything to him if you want to."

"Thanks Carey, it's okay, I'll just do it myself."

"Okay, I'll just see you later! Bye!"

"Bye Cody, Carey!"

They waved for the last time before Maddie shut the door.

She washed the dishes and put Liam to sleep. She was about to relax when she heard her cell phone rang. She immediately ran to Zack's room where she left the cellphone, and answered it before the loud ringing sound wake him up._ Who could this be?, _she thought.

"Hello?" she softly said, careful not to wake Zack up.

"Maddie, where have you been? I was looking for you!" says the familiar voice of the girl on the other end.

"Uh, London, it's a long story. What's up?"

"Why are you whispering?" she asked. Before Maddie could answer, she threw another question. "Hey, guess what?"

"What?"

"I want you to guess, Maddie!"

She let out an exasperated sigh

"Your dad bought you the moon?"

"Nope! I bought the most beautiful and expensive Vera Wang gown ever!" she exclaimed.

"You bought something expensive? Like that's new!" Maddie rolled her eyes.

"Of course, it's new! I never buy used clothes! I'm not like you!" London exclaimed.

"London, that's not what I mean—"

"Whatever. You should see it! I'm actually wearing it right now. Oooh, I can't take my eyes off of myself…"

Maddie pictured London in her mind: Admiring herself in front of her talking mirror.

"Why would I want to see it?"

"Because this is what I'm going to wear on your wedding! I bought you one too!"

Although she was tempted to take the gown, she just chose to tell her the truth. "London, can you just forget whatever we've talked about this morning? It's not going to happen!"

"Huh? I thought you and Zack talked about it?"

"Yes. Yes we did and now he understands. There will be no wedding whatsoever." she said as she glanced at Zack, who looked peaceful in his sleep.

"Aww… you broke his heart? How dare you Maddie!" she blurted.

Maddie scowled, surprised by her reaction. "Okay, why are you suddenly interested with getting me and Zack together? I don't get it!"

"Because I bought lots of good stuff for your wedding. Now what am I going to do with it?" she complained. "And my gown! Do you know how hard it is to contact Vera Wang? She's so busy, you know!"

Maddie got annoyed. She couldn't stand the conversation anymore so she thought of an excuse to end it.

"Um, London, can we just talk about this tomorrow? Zack's sleeping, I might wake him up."

"Ooh, so that explains the whispering! Wait a minute, you're sleeping with Zack? I thought--"

"Bye London. G'night!" she said, completely ignoring what London said.

She hung up. Thank God.

She was too tired to deal with her right now. All she wanted was to relax her tired mind and body. This has been a long day for her.

After making sure that the doors were locked and the lights were out, Maddie went inside her room to rest, but stopped when she realized something.

**"I am not sleeping in the same room with Zack, am I?"**

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry it took so long again, got caught up with schoolworks. :) Anyway, I hope you like it eventhough there's no Zack-Maddie moment, but I will put up the next chapter soon, as in real soon. Thank you soooo much for the wonderful comments! **ILY:)**

_RandyOrtonHasaMonkeyFace, 16, Avalona, Lennie1984, DracoLuvsGinny, StarshipGazer, Rongo_

you rock!** ;)  
**


	11. Sleeping together

_Is it appropriate to sleep in the same room with him?_ She asked herself. _I don't want to sleep in the couch for sure, and there's no way I'm sharing with Liam's room! Well, there's grandma, but she's asleep. It'll be really insensitive of me to wake her up just to open the door for me. This sucks. Why did mom and dad have to lock their bedroom while they're out of town? No wait. Why did I even agree to let Zack stay here?!  
_

_What if__ I wake him up? Should I say"oh, hey Zack, sorry to wake you up! Uh, can you transfer to the couch? I'm not really comfortable sharing this room with you. Thanks, and sleep well!"?_

Maddie shook her head_. Nah, that's a really stupid idea.  
_

_Well, what's wrong with sleeping in one room? It's not like we're sleeping in one bed! And besides, he's sick! What if he wakes up in the middle of the night in pain and he can't find anyone to help him? So Maddie, just chill. Nothing will happen. Just crawl into your bed, get some decent sleep, and quit worrying about sharing the same room with Zack! _

After debating with herself, she decided to sleep in her own room. She was able to convince herself that there's nothing, absolutely nothing wrong with it.

She pulled down the wallbed next to Zack and she sat on it. She wasn't sleepy yet so she laid down on her stomach and grabbed the book on the table next to her bed.

She flipped the pages, but she couldn't concentrate on reading; she was clearly distracted with Zack's presence in her own room. _It feels odd to share this room with him. London slept in here, and it didn't feel this way!  
_

She kept flipping the pages but she can't understand a single thing.

She glanced at Zack. She couldn't help but smile.

There was something really cute about how peaceful and vulnerable he looked in his sleep. He looked innocent and helpless, far from the boy who flirted with her all day.

She continued reading till her eyes got tired. She needed to wake up early tomorrow to talk to Moseby.

**XxX **

_She was in her usual spot in the counter that morning when Zack came up to her_

_"Hey Maddie…." he greeted._

_Maddie looked up and terribly surprised upon seeing him.  
_

_"Zack? How did you get in here? I thought you we're sick?"_

_"No, I'm good! I feel so much better, thanks to you!" he replied with a cocky smile.  
_

_Coming out from behind the counter, she moved toward him. "What are you doing here?" she asked, still confused and bewildered._

_Without a word, he took her hand and led her in the center of the lobby._

_He got down on one knee without taking his eyes off her_

_"Madeline Margaret Genevieve Miranda Catherine Fitzpatrick," he took a deep breath before continuing, "Will you marry me?"_

_Her jaw dropped. She noticed that the people in the lobby we're glaring at them and waited for her response._

_She laughed nervously._

_"Zack, the people are staring at us! What are you doing?" she tried to control her anger._

_He looked up around him with a cocked eyebrow. He finally stood up and faced them._

_"Yeah, what are you all doing? Do you mind, we're having a private talk here!" he turned to Maddie and smiled, "Don't mind them, Maddie."_

_She harshly dragged him into the hallway where the people couldn't see them._

_"I was talking to you! What are you doing?" she asked._

_"I'm asking you to marry me."_

_She closed her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh."Not again, Zack!"_

_"What? I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you!"_

_"But why?!"_

_"Because you're perfect!" he paused and continued. "Okay, I know nobody's perfect, but you're the closest thing to it!" he said._

_Her facial expression slowly shifted from anger to a sweet smile."Wow… that is just so…. sweet. Really?", she blushed._

_Zack nodded, "I'm only telling you the truth, my love. Now, I'll ask you again, will you—"_

_"YES!" she exclaimed and grabbed him by the shoulder and crashed her lips on his. He closed his eyes. He was in heaven.  
_

**XxX**

Maddie got awakened by a strange noise and she felt something heavy wrapping around her. She slowly fluttered her eyes open and saw a dark figure laying next to her but couldn't see it very well. She rubbed her eyes to see where the strange noise was coming from.

The moment she opened her eyes, she felt her heart stopped. Her eyes grew bigger and her mouth dropped open.

It was none other than Zack, mumbling in his sleep, his arm and leg wrapped around her. Since she fell asleep on her stomach, her head was turned to her right where Zack's face was only a few inches apart from hers.

She carefully unwrapped herself from his arm, and sat up. _What in the world was he doing on my bed?_

He continued mumbling so she decided to wake him up. "ZACK! Zack wake up! Wake up!" Maddie said, tapping his face.

He didn't budge. He just continued mumbling, which made Maddie panic. "Oh my God, he won't wake up, what am I going to do?" Maddie told herself. There's only way she can think of_. "I'm sorry, Zack!" _she whispered before slapping him real hard.

"YESSSSS!!!!" he exclaimed and jerked awake.

"Huh?" she scowled.

Totally disoriented, he looked around the room and gazed at Maddie. Then he realized that it was all just a dream, and he felt totally disappointed. "Ugh, why did you wake me up!" he said, and sat up.

Maddie placed her hands on her hips and replied. "Well, you we're mumbling in your sleep, and that was seriously scary, no offense." she said, shaking her head. "I mean, I can handle snore, but people mumbling in sleep is so scary, you should have heard yourself!"

Slightly embarrassed, he asked, "I mumbled?"

She nodded, "Uh-huh."

"What did I say?" he held his breath while waiting for Maddie's reply. He'd be embarrased if she heard the whole thing.

"I don't know, your words weren't clear." He let out a sigh of relief. "Hey, at least I saved you from your nightmare!"

"Who says I was having a nightmare?" he said "I was having the most beautiful dream ever," he smiled.

"What was it about? What does 'yes!' suppose to mean?" she asked.

"Nevermind. It's nothing." he replied. "What are you doing here anyway? Where's Cody?" he turned his head and looked around.

She raised her eyebrow and replied, "the last time I checked, this is my house, and you are sleeping in my room!"

Zack looked up the ceiling and tried to remember how it happened.

"Oh, yeah, I remember now." he nodded with a smile.

"You do? Well, let's see... do you also remember how you got here on my bed when I left you sleeping on that bed!" she said, pointing out the bed on the other side of the room.

It took a moment for him to digest what Maddie said. He didn't know how he got there either.

He gave her a slightest shrug. "I don't know. I must be sleepwalking again."

"You're sleepwalking? and mumbling in your sleep? Wow, I'd hate to be Cody!" she said.

"I only hope you didn't take advantage of me. With this good looks of mine, I doubt you weren't tempted to kiss me." he chuckled.

Maddie dropped her mouth open and shook her head. "Get back to your bed, you mumbler! I'll go get you a glass of water, it might help wash away your dirty mind!"

She went out of the room and got back in no time. He transferred to his bed and she handed him the glass of water.

"Thanks." he said and sipped his water.

"So, how are you feeling?"

"My head still hurts."

She placed her palm on his forehead and shook her head.

"You're still hot."

"You're hotter, baby." he backfired with a husky voice.

With that, she playfully tapped his forehead lightly. "Ouch!", he said, laughing.

"I'll get the icebag."

She glanced at the digital clock at the table next to her bed. It was 6 am and she decided not to go back to sleep anymore.

"Here you go" she sat down on his bed and handed him the icebag. "Are you hungry?"

"A little."

"Well, we have a chicken soup. That should help you feel better since you didn't eat dinner," she said. "Oh by the way, Cody and Carey were here last night. Just checked to see if you're okay and asked me to keep you here overnight." with that, she left the room and get him the soup.

_I love you mom!_ he whispered.

She returned with a hot bowl of chicken soup on a tray and she put it on his lap.

He just stared down at it and didn't move.

"What's wrong? Don't you like the soup? It's good! Try it!" Maddie said.

"I'm too weak to move my arm," he said and a half-smile creased his cheek. "Feed me?"

Before she responded, her grandma walked into the room.

"Good morning!" she turned to Zack, "Oh, I can see you're awake now. How are you feeling, my dear?" she delightfully asked.

"I'm feeling fine, my head is just hurting a little bit. Thanks!" he smiled at her.

Grandma eyed the soup on Zack's lap. "Oh, do you like the soup?"

He replied sadly. "It looks yummy but.. I can't eat it."

"Why?" she got worried.

"I'm too weak to move the spoon..." he said, trying to sound helpless when all he wanted was to be fed by Maddie.

"Oh, you poor thing," grandma said with a concerned look. "Madeline, why don't you feed him? Looks like he can't even lift his finger!"

She opened her mouth to decline, but she knows her grandma wouldn't let her get away with this. She raised her arms in surrender.

"Alright!" and shrugged.

Zack gazed at grandma and gave her a thumbs up sign behind Maddie. Grandma just smiled and left the room.

She grabbed the bowl and carefully stirred the soup. When she looked up at Zack to feed him the spoonful of soup, she noticed he's smiling. "What are you smiling at? Do I look funny in the morning?"

"Oh yes!" he replied jokingly. Maddie scowled. "I-I mean no..."

Maddie just shook her head and fed him the spoonful of soup.

Zack sipped the soup, trying not to laugh. He really convinced Maddie that he couldn't move!

"Mmm. This is good! Did you cook it?"

"No, grandma did. Glad you like it!"

"I wish mom can make soup like this!"

"If you want, I'll ask her to give Carey the recipe so she can cook it for you, how's that?" she said while feeding him another spoonful.

"Awesome!"

When he finally finished his soup, Maddie stood up.

"Do you need anything else?" she asked.

"No, I'll just get back to sleep. I'll try to continue my dream and please don't wake me up…", he paused and talked flirtatiously, "…unless you're waking me up with a kiss!"

Maddie glared at him, "you wish."

With that, she turned away and left Zack alone in the room. She headed to the kitchen to put the empty bowl in the sink.

"Grandma, I'm going to the Tipton, can you please watch over Zack?" she asked her grandma while eating breakfast.

"I thought you're not working today?" her grandma replied while munching the pancake.

"Yeah but Mr. Moseby wants to see me."

"Oh..." her grandma just nodded.

"He's sleeping right now, and please make sure that Liam won't bother him," she said. "Oh, and don't forget to give him the medicine, he's still hot, I just checked him.".

Grandma smiled at her

"Why?" she asked her grandma.

"You care a lot for him, huh?"

"Grandma, Carey asked me to take care of him while he's here. It's my job to make sure everything's okay until Carey picks him up."

Grandma just shrugged. "What time are you going to be back?"

"I don't know. But it shouldn't take that long."

"Okay, I'll see you in a bit!"

She headed to the shower and dressed up casually since she was not going to work that day.

_I hope Moseby's not mad_... she told herself and headed out.

* * *

_A/N: Wow. This is like the longest chapter I've written! I hope you like the Zack/Maddie moments in this chapter. Again, thanks for reviewing! They're all awesome!_

_Lennie1984, 16, Rongo, Ghostwriter626, hayzxx, DracoLuvsGinny, actingalexis13_

_  
Thank you so much! Enjoy:)_


	12. I love you, Zack!

In the Tipton.

Maddie took a deep breath before entering the hotel. _Relax, Maddie. He's not going to fire you. You just tell him the whole truth, and you'll be fine._

The lobby was nice and quiet that morning. There were no guests in the lobby, except for the two old ladies sipping coffee while reading newspaper on the lobby couch. _This is good,_ _not many people are in here. At least I wouldn't be too embarrassed if Moseby yells at me,_ she thought.

"Hey Maddie!" she jumped a little bit when she heard that. It was Esteban.

"Hi Esteban!" she greeted him while holding her chest. "You scared me!"

He looked at her from head to foot. "You're not in your uniform. Aren't you working today?"

"It's my day off, but Moseby wants to see me."

"Why? Are you in trouble?" he asked.

She sighed heavily and nodded slowly. "Yeah."

"Oh, I'm sorry. What happened?"

As soon as he finished his sentence, Moseby appeared before them. "Madeline!"

Her heart pounded when she heard that voice. She turned around and saw him. "Mr. Moseby, I….." she paused, not sure of what she's going to say

"Follow me, please." he said flatly and walked towards his desk. Esteban was left confused. _What did Maddie do that got her in trouble?_

She nervously followed him while the other employees are gazing at them. She couldn't look at them.

"Tell me what happened." he said as he propped his elbow to the counter.

She took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts.

"I went to the park with Zack yesterday, I thought he told you…."

"That hooligan!" he said furiously.

"No, no, no, it's not his fault," she quickly replied to defend Zack. "It's mine, it's my choice to go with him."

"Maddie…" he paused, "you know very well that this is your 3rd warning. I'm sorry, but it's the company's policy. I've really thought about this and..."

Her heart pounded fast.

"What do you mean, Mr. Moseby? Am I... fired?" she's almost scared to ask.

"Well..." he paused and quickly glanced at the paper document he's holding. "I'm supposed to fire you at this point, but... you've been a good employee and I know this job is perfect for you so I decided to..."

She gulped. "What?"

Moseby shrugged. "...give you an additional task instead."

Maddie glared at him, "what task?"

"Well, since Muriel is on vacation, I want you to do the general cleaning in the Martins's suite when they leave. Will that work?"

Maddie slowly smiled and nodded. "Fair enough!"

"Good!"

"I'm sorry Mr. Moseby, I know I don't deserve to work here anymore with all those violations I had but..."

"It's okay, Maddie. We learn from our mistakes, don't we?" Moseby smiled at her and went back to welcoming the guests.

Esteban quickly walked towards Maddie.

"What did he say?"

"He didn't fire me, but he gave me Muriel's job. Which is fine by me!"

"Well, good luck with that!"

She glanced at her watch. "Oh, I have to go home Esteban. I'll see you later!"

"What's with the hurry?"

"Well, I'm kind of avoiding London and she might be here any minute! See yah!" she said, hurriedly approaching the revolving door.

"Wait!" Esteban called. She stopped and turned around, "are you and London fighting?" he asked.

"Of course we're not fighting! Are we Maddie?" London said while coming out of the elevator.

_Oh great! _Maddie told herself. "London! Funny surprise seeing you this early!" she tried to sound enthusiastic.

"Oh, I have a pictorial this morning for Teen Trend and later I'll have an interview with Vanity Fair. I'm telling you, Maddie, it's not easy to be famous and extremely pretty! You are so lucky--" London paused and looked at her from head to foot, "--to be my total opposite!" Maddie just gave her a smirk. She had gotten used to London's "demeaning" remarks and it didn't affect her anymore. "What about you? What are you doing here?"

"Uh, I had a talk with Moseby. Anyway, nice to see you London, I gotta go!"

"Wait!" she walked closer to her. "Don't forget our shopping later, okay?"

"Alright, I guess you are not really fighting at all! I'll get back to work! Adios!" Esteban said and helped the guests.

Maddie scowled, "shopping?"

London tilted her head and placed her arm on her waist. "Don't tell me you forgot? We always do this during your off!"

"Oh…" Maddie nodded slowly and gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, I can't. I'm not available today."

She looked surprised. "Maddie? Since when did you refuse shopping?"

"Actually, I need to watch over Zack, he's sick and--"

"Ooohhh… That one!" she interrupted. "You hung up on me last night, did you say Zack slept in your house? What is goin on with you two?" London said a little louder, which made the other employees look in their direction.

"Oh shut up London!" Maddie said in a quiet voice. "Zack's sick, that's what's going on, it's not what you think! And don't make it sound like it's such a big deal! I'm just babysitting him, only this time he's in my house and not the other way around!"

London's cell phone suddenly rang and she answered it. "Hello? Yes, I'll be there in a minute! Thank you!" She stuffed her cell phone in her purse. "Teen Trend just called, they can't wait to see my gorgeousness!" she smiled, "oh, I'll call you later in case you change your mind about the shopping! You know I always need an extra hand for my bags!" she flashed her a confident smile and walked away.

Maddie rolled her eyes and left the hotel.

**XxX**

Cody was having breakfast that morning all by himself while watching the morning news. Carey left the house even before Cody woke up. He was so hooked with the news about the murder in the hotel when the phone suddenly rang and he picked it up.

"Hello?"

"This is the Police Department. Is this Cody Martin?" said the man on the other end.

"Yes, this is Cody. How can I help--"

"Sir, your life is in danger!!!" the man's voice was urgent.

"What do you mean?!" his heart started to pound so fast.

"Someone wants to kill you and he knows your alone! I'm giving you an order to get out of the suite as soon as possible!"

Cody froze and he almost dropped the phone on the floor. Suddenly, the person on the other end broke out into a hearty laugh. It was none other than Zack who covered the mouthpiece of the phone to sound like a grown up man to scare his brother.

"ZACK! Darn you! That's not funny! That scared the living daylights out of me! You jerk!" Cody said angrily, sounding like he's about to cry.

Cody's reaction just made him laugh harder. "Man, that was good! I can't believe you fell for that!" Zack was still laughing.

"Did you call just to pull that stupid prank on me?"

"Of course! Why else would I call you?" he replied, and he heard Cody heaved a deep sigh. "Okay, maybe I called for something else."

"What? You missed me?"

"Heck no! Just bored. Maddie's not back yet. I miss her already." He heard Zack sighed on the other end.

"You miss her? How long has she been gone?"

Zack glanced at the alarm clock on the table next to him. He's counting the minutes till Maddie comes back.

"Forty-five minutes?"

Cody rolled his eyes and shook his head. "That must be a long wait, Zack. I feel your pain." he said sarcastically.

"Did she stop by our suite?"

"No. Maybe she got cornered by London or something."

Zack sighed. "I hope she comes back soon, I really can't stand this headache!"

"Well, that's what you get for being stupid, Zackary!" Cody blurted. "Why did you do that? Are you that desperate to take her out? Didn't I tell you--"

"Ooops, gotta go! Someone's knocking, it must be my sweet thang! Bye Cody!" he hung up.

_Sucker._ He shook his head.

**XxX**

Zack placed the phone on the cradle and got up the bed. "I'll get it grandma!" he yelled. He opened the door and smiled when he saw Maddie standing in front of him. "Hello, Morning Goddess, a.k.a Maddie!" he said while leaning on one arm against the door.

Maddie chuckled and went straight inside while Zack closed the door. "I thought you we're sleeping?" she asked, and flopped down on the couch.

"I couldn't continue my dream anymore, so I just waited for you." he said and flopped down next to her.

"Oooh…"

"So, what happened?" he asked, facing her.

"I talked to Moseby and he said I was... um..."

"He fired you? No way, he can't do that, let me talk to him!" Zack walked quickly towards the door but Maddie grabbed his elbow.

"Where are you going? Will you let me finish?"

Zack sat down again and waited in anticipation.

"He said I was supposed to be fired but he changed his mind and gave me Muriel's job instead as a punishment."

He let out a sigh of relief. "I thought you lost your job already. If that happens, I will never forgive myself, Maddie." he said with all sincerity.

Maddie smiled. "You're so sweet!" She ruffled his hair. Zack's faced dropped. He was disappointed that she still treated him like a kid. He just went back to his room and sat on the bed. Maddie followed him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"My head still hurts. It won't go away." Zack replied as an excuse, which was partly true. His headache just got worse.

"Oh.. that's weird, I already gave you a headache tablet this morning. I don't know how else to make you feel better, wait let me ask grandma--"

"I know how."

"Really? How?"

"Just say, 'I love you, Zack'" he said with a cocky grin on his face.

Maddie raised her eyebrow, "that's... not gonna happen."

"Oh c'mon, I thought you want to make me feel better!"

"Yeah, but that's stupid! How can those words heal you? Unless there's a scientific explanation, which I doubt!"

"You don't explain love, you just feel it."

Maddie just gave him a stupid look. "Alright Shakespeare, any other suggestions? A head rub? Or another ice bag, maybe?"

"I don't want any of those. I just need you to tell me that you love me, and I shall be healed." he said poetically.

"No."

"Please?"

"No. That's ridiculous! I know what you're up to and you can't make me say it!"

Zack gave up. "Fine! If I didn't recover quickly, it'll be your entire fault, Maddie."

Maddie stared at him, thinking carefully about his suggestion.

Zack looked at her with a puppy-dog look on his face. How can she resist that?

"Will it really help?" she asked.

"Yes, I promise, it will!" Zack nodded with enthusiasm when he noticed that Maddie is slowly giving in.

"Ugh. This is stupid. Okay…" she took a deep breath before continuing, "IloveyouZack."

Zack shook his head. "Nah…. You talked way too fast, I didn't feel the emotion."

Maddie gave him a stupid look. She said it again. "I love you, Zack," she repeated flatly.

"What, no feelings?" he complained.

Maddie rolled her eyes. "This better work!" she cleared her throat before speaking and stared directly into his green eyes. "**Zack, I love you**." she said, giving him the sweetest smile.

Totally amazed, Zack jumped on the top of his bed. "Woohoo!!" and did a little happy dance.

Extremely surprised, Maddie dropped her mouth open and gave him a weird look. "Are you okay?"

He came to an abrupt stop and sat on the bed again. "Yeah, I'm okay. I just got a little excited right there." he chuckled.

"O—kay… Sounds good!"Maddie said, still weirded out. "Let me know if you need anything, I'll just check on Liam." With that, she stood up and walked out of the room. His eyes followed her until the door closed behind her. He then flopped backwards on the bed with a satisfied grin on his face.

He heaved a deep sigh. "I know you love me... You just don't admit it..."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the main door. He heard Maddie's footsteps and it sounded like she was going to answer the door.

He scowled when he heard how excited Maddie sounded with the visitor.

"Trevor!!!" Maddie squealed.

"Hi Maddie! Surprise!" said the guy.

_Trevor? Who the heck is this Trevor!_

He quickly got up and went outside of the room to find out.

* * *

_A/N: I know this isn't really worth the wait but I'll try to make the next chapters interesting. :) Sorry.  
_

_And yeah, I changed the title. I also put titles in every chapter, for a change. :)_

**_hayzxx, , Lennie1984, Rongo, actingalexis13, Ghostwriter626, DracoLuvsGinny, jcg2491, and to everyone who reviewed since day one: _**

_Thank you so much for reviewing, it gives me the inspiration to continue. Sometimes I'm thinking of dropping this ff and not continue anymore, but don't worry, I decided to finish it **no matter what. **_

_I hope you like it. Have a great Thanksgiving to all!_


	13. zack vs trevor

Maddie was pleasantly surprised when he saw Trevor standing on her doorstep. She felt her heart melted upon seeing his sheer hotness, and his beautiful boyish smile.

"Trevor!"she squealed, covering her mouth in surprise.

"Hi Maddie! Surprise!" he delightfully greeted her.

"Come in! Come in!" she excitedly opened the door wider, letting Trevor in. His gaze wandered around the house and sat in the couch. "Nice place, Maddie!"

"Thanks!" she replied and sat next to him. "Wow, this is really surprising. What brought you here? I haven't seen you forever!"

"I know, I've been really busy organizing the merit scholar committee. Actually, I had a meeting this morning that took place in St. Mark hotel right across the Tipton so I decided to pay you a visit, but the manager said you're not working today. I'm glad he remembered me and gave me your address. And..." he paused "Oh!" he reached inside his body bag and took out a book, "I want to give you this."

He handed her a book called "How to Recycle a Disposable Planet"

She accepted the book and flipped a few pages.

"My mentor gave it to me and I thought you'd be more interested in it than me." Trevor explained.

She gasped and broke out into a wide smile, "Aww, Trevor this is so nice!" Putting the book down on her lap, she gave Trevor a hug.

Little did they know, Zack was standing just a few feet from them.

"What..." he mouthed in disbelief, feeling totally jealous. He was upset. He knew in his heart that the guy was way better than him in all aspects; Someone Maddie was most likely to fall in love with.

He went back inside the room to wallow in self pity when he passed by the mirror. He stopped and looked at his reflection.

_You're not bad looking, Zack. What are you worried about? You always had confidence, and this Trevor guy is not going to ruin it! So what if he's older? So what if he's smart? So what if he knows what book she's gonna like? So what if he's good-looking? Wait a minute, the 'good-looking' title is yours! If you were a little older, I bet Maddie wouldn't even give that guy a second look! Now, are you just going to stand there and let that guy score with her? _

"I'm not going to let that happen!" he said. "Let the war begin," he said confidently and went back outside.

He leaned sideways against the door frame and folded his arms across his chest. They were still hugging so he cleared his throat to get their attention. They quickly pulled away from each other and looked at him.

"Oh hey Zack, have you met Trevor?" Maddie asked.

Zack cocked his eyebrow. "No, I don't think so."_  
_

"Zack, this is Trevor. Trevor, that's Zack right there," she said , looking at them alternately.

Trevor extended his hand for a handshake. "My pleasure to meet you, Zack," he said, looking up to him.

Zack slightly chuckled. _Psh. How formal. Maybe to make himself sound smarter than he actually is. _

When Maddie noticed that Zack wasn't making an effort to reach Trevor's hand, she glared at him and shot him a warning look. He got her message so he put on a happy face and walked towards them.

He sat down the couch and squeezed himself between Maddie and Trevor, forcing the latter to move further to the side and give space for him. "Nice to meet you, pal!" Zack said while shaking his hand.

Maddie and Trevor looked at each other and then at Zack.

"What? I just want to join the conversation!" Zack said innocently. He grabbed the book from Maddie's lap and browsed it. "Hmm... recycling. Interesting stuff."

She rolled her eyes and stood up. "Do you want something to drink?" she said, looking at Trevor.

"Water is fine, thanks!" Zack answered.

Maddie glared at him and asked Trevor again, "do you want something to drink, Trevor?" she said, emphasizing his name.

"If you have a green tea, it'll be awesome!"

"Okay. Green tea, it is. I'll be back in a minute!" she said.

Trevor smiled and nodded at her. Zack folded his arms across his chest and gave Trevor a wary look. Uncomfortable silence followed so Trevor decided to say something.

"Uh... so... how are you?" he asked awkwardly.

Zack smirked. "Not so bad."

Trevor nodded.

"So… how did you know Maddie?" Zack asked.

"I met her in the Tipton when I attended a scholar meeting."

"Do you like her?"

Trevor was taken aback and laughed nervously. "Uh, that was a direct question but, yeah, I do. I mean, any guy would."

"Are you hitting on her? Are you going to ask her on a date?"

Trevor chuckled. "Wait a minute, why are you asking me these questions?"

"Eat your heart out. " he paused, "I'm her boyfriend."

Trevor laughed. "You're funny!"

"You don't believe me?" Zack asked him.

"Should I?…" Trevor replied.

"Do you see that room where I came out of?" he said, pointing to the room. "FYI, that's Maddie's room. You think she'll share her room with me if we don't have something special going on?" he challenged him.

Trevor looked at him in hesitation.

Zack sneered. "Oooh… you're not as smart as I thought…"

"But--"

"Not enough proof? Listen to this!"

Zack cleared his throat and yelled, "Maddie, my headache is really killing me, can you make the pain go away?"

"Zack, I love you!"she yelled right back.

"Love you too..." he said in a normal voice and gave Trevor a "see-what-I-mean?" look.

Trevor shook his head. "Unbelievable!" He said in disbelief. "But she told me--"

"Forget whatever she told you," he interrupted. "We just got together this morning, and frankly, you ruined our moment. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go follow her in the kitchen. And you," he paused, "will go back to whatever hole you crawled out of."

Having the look of disappointment and disbelief on his face, Trevor stood up and walked out of the door.

Zack stretched on the couch with a naughty grin on his face.

Maddie came back a few moments later with a green tea and scowled when she noticed that Trevor's gone.

"Where'd he go?" she asked

"Oh…", he sat up straight before continuing, "I really don't want to humiliate the guy but he told me he was constipated and he had to leave because he couldn't bear it anymore," he said, trying to sound convincing.

Maddie had the mix of disgust and disbelief look on her face. "But… he could just use the bathroom…"

"That's what I told him!" Zack blurted, "But he's really embarrassed. He said he's sorry though."

Her disgust turned into pity. "Oh… That's awful… I wish I told him it's alright…"

Zack began to feel genuinely guilty for lying. "Ugh. I really can't do this to you!" He turned to Maddie, "Okay, I lied," he said. "I acted like a jerk. I made him go away by telling him that I'm... your... boyfriend." his voice trailed off

Maddie narrowed her eyes at him shook her head. "And he believed it?"

"Look," Zack continued, "I'm sorry. I just got so jealous when I saw you two hugging."

"But it doesn't give you the right to treat him like that."

"I know. I'm sorry I let my jealousy get the better of me. Can you blame me? You're flirting right in front of me! And I can't just stand there and let that guy score with you!" he said.

"But he's my good friend, and he's one of the nicest guys I know! I can't believe you did this to him."

"So you're defending him. You like him, don't you?" Zack accused her.

"Trevor? Actually, I do. I mean, any girl would..." she sat on the opposite end of the couch and continued with dreamy eyes, forgetting that she's supposed to be mad at Zack for what he did, "...he's cute, he's smart, he's a good conversationalist, he's a good kis—", she cut herself when she noticed Zack's face becoming darker. "...b-but I don't really like him too much, I mean I like smart guys but Trevor is a little freaky! His idea of fun is to look for subliminal messages in paintings!"

_Smart guy_. Those two words crushed his heart. Why couldn't he be smart like that Trevor? Why couldn't he be the guy she dreams of?

"You're just saying that to make me feel better, but you don't have to. I can see that you really like him, and I'm so stupid to even compete with him. Who am I compared to that guy? I'm just a silly little boy to you and he's obviously everything you're looking for," he said, and looked down.

Maddie smiled warmly at him. "Come here, Zack."

Zack moved closer and rested his head on her lap. He noticed that she got a little surprised. "You don't mind, do you?", he asked.

Maddie smiled. "N-no… Not at all," she replied and slowly stroked his long, wavy blond hair that frames his sad face. "Why did you grow your hair this long? I think you're cuter when you had a shorter hair."

"I've been growing it since last year, why are you only noticing it now?" he asked, and before Maddie can reply, he continued, "Oh yeah, you're too busy with your Trevor and all the guys that London's been hooking you up with."

Maddie pouted and looked down on him, "why are you so jealous? Didn't I tell you that you're special to me?" she asked.

"Yes. You told me that a year ago in your stinking prom and until now, I have no idea what the heck that means."

"Zack, it means that you hold a special place here," she said while placing her palm on her chest, referring to her heart, "…and no one else can have that place but you. Not even Trevor."

Zack looked up to her in confusion. "Uh… Is that good?"

Maddie chuckled. "I don't know. You decide."

Suddenly, grandma and Liam walked in.

"How are you feeling, son?" grandma asked.

Zack sat up and replied, "way better than last night, grandma. Thanks to my nurse!" he said and winked at Maddie.

"I'm glad to hear that!" grandma replied.

"Hey booger," he greeted Liam and ruffled his hair.

"Whatever, Mr-desperate-for-Maddie's-attention!", Liam replied. Maddie and Zack looked at each other when Liam spoke again. "Hey fatty, I spilled milk on my bed, and you will clean it up! Ha ha ha!" he giggled.

Maddie scowled, "What, you little—"

"Don't worry Maddie, I'll have him clean it up." Grandma glared at Liam.

"So where are you going?" Maddie asked.

"Oh, I'll take Liam to the dentist."

"What time are you going to be back?"

"I don't know. I have to go to the market afterwards."

"Okay…. I'll see you later!" Maddie said. "Liam, you behave yourself, don't be a pain in the butt!"

Liam just stuck his tongue out and ran outside.

"Alright, I'll see you two later!" grandma said and followed Liam outside.

Maddie closed the door and faced Zack.

"I'm getting hungry, what do you wanna eat?" she asked

"I don't know, whatever you have!"

"Okay, I'm going to cook!"

"I'll help you!"

"Are you sure? What about your headache?"

"Pfft, I'm fine!" he said.

She shrugged. "Okay!"

She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and they headed towards the kitchen.

* * *

_A/N: Um... I'm not sure about this chapter, I revised it a million times and i still don't know if i like it. ha._

**_Lennie1984, jcg2491, actingalexis13, Sharpay, Hayden, Ghostwriter626, HELENz, Rongo, MaseyIsLove_**

_THANK YOU SO MUCH! xoxo :) you just don't know how much your reviews make my day. :)_

_I hope you liked it! There's going to be more of Trevor in the next chapters. Corrie and Mary-Margaret are also going to appear. So yeah, that's a little spoiler for you. :) Thanks again!  
_


	14. Her priority

Maddie walked into the kitchen, followed by Zack. She went over to the fridge and opened it. After mulling over the contents for a couple of minutes, she still haven't decided which one to cook so she consulted Zack.

"Do you see something interesting, Zack?" she asked, wandering her gaze around the fridge

"I sure do!" Zack replied

"Good. So what should we cook?" she said, but Zack isn't replying. "Zack?" she called him again and turned to face him only to find him staring at her picture, posted at the door of the fridge, where she's only wearing a two-piece swimsuit.

She gasped and quickly grabbed the photo.

"What! It's not supposed to be here!" she said, hiding the picture behind her

Zack raised his eyebrow

"Why do you have a picture in your swimsuit on a fridge?"

"It's grandma. I'm sure she did it." she replied. "She was the one who picked out that swimsuit, and she's so proud when I wore it in my swimming class." she shook her head and continued, "I mean, she even showed it to her bingo playmates! She loved the thing on me for some reason, I don't even want to know why."

"Oh…" he retorted, "I can see why..." he said, looking at her from head to foot

"Zack?!" she looked at him in disgust while slightly hitting his arm

Zack switched his gaze to the picture in her hand, which she's desperately trying to hide.

"Um... can I have it? You know, a souvenir from you would be really sweet!" he said and snatched it from her. He stared at it once again and let out a romantic sigh.

She snatched it back and glared at him. "No."

"But—"

"I don't give out my swimsuit photos as a souvenir, thank you very much. Now can we go back to the food?"

"Sure." He replied with less enthusiasm and sat in the dining table.

"So I ask again. What do you want to eat?", she asked, scanning the items inside the fridge.

"Anything is fine with me as long as it doesn't involve the good ol' vegetables."

She turned around and faced him. "You know, you remind me of the guy I dumped recently. He hates vegetables too." she shrugged and looked back in the fridge again. "Just thought I'd mention that."

Zack quickly leaped and landed in front of her.

"Did I tell you that I can't live without vegetables?" he blurted. "They're the best! I don't understand why some people hate vegetables, I think they're deluded morons!"

"Morons, huh?" Maddie sneered. "Alright, I'm thinking lemon garlic broccoli, what do you say?"

Zack gulped. "Y-yeah, that sounds yummy!" _Or nasty._

Maddie smiled. "Glad we're on the same page!" Maddie started to pick up the ingredients from the fridge.

"W-what's for dessert? Cake? Ice cream? Pudding?" Zack asked

"Uh… no." she replied. "Spinach tart sounds awesome!"

Zack had a disgust look on his face. "I-I think it's very... good… and healthy."

**XxX**

Maddie pulled all the ingredients from the fridge and laid them all on the table.

"So, do you know how to peel?", she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

Zack looked up to the ceiling before replying, "No."

"What about slice?"

Zack let out a little laugh. "Slice? Of course! Not."

"Okay..." she said, thinking of other task to give him. "Maybe you can sauté! I'm sure you see your mom doing that!"

"What's sauté? Is that French word for 'invent-a-bad-recipe-that-no-one-can-eat-but-me'?"

Maddie gave him a stupid look and shook her head.

"Uh, I don't think you can help me at all."

"I can be your taste tester!" he said proudly. "I can do that even blindfolded! You can ask Cody!" he said, nodding

Maddie gave him a fake bewildered face. "Oh, that's great! Not everyone can be that talented!" she said sarcastically. "Look, why don't you just rest in the room and I'll call you if it's ready?"

"It's boring! And besides, I want to watch and learn how to do that stuff. You know, so I can be a good future husband. What better way to learn than to see it from my future wife herself?" he said, followed by a smirk

Maddie gave him an odd look. "I don't know if I should find that flattering or disturbing."

"It can be both!" Zack said, raising his eyebrows

Maddie shrugged and prepared cooking.

**XxX**

Maddie didn't take too long to finish cooking. Zack volunteered to prepare the plates since "it's the only thing he can do well, next to taste-testing".

When they were already seated and ready to eat, Zack was only staring down at the food.

"Don't tell me you're too weak to move again." Maddie said

She noticed that Zack is making big gulps as he stare into the food. He wanted to puke. He really can't stand the smell of vegetables, let alone eat it.

A random quote entered his mind.

_Hello. I'm Joe Rogan, and this is Fear Factor. Zack Martin, here's your first stunt! Lemon Garlic Broccoli!  
_

He poked the broccoli with a fork and raised it up, as if examining every angle of it.

Maddie gave him an odd look. "What are you doing? Look, if you can't eat it, that's fine. I'll make you a different one. I don't want you to starve…"

"No Maddie it's OK. It's about time to learn how to eat this", he replied. "Do you dare me to finish this plate?"

Maddie laugh. "Sure."

"Okay, here we go!" he said and took a bite. Maddie thought for a second that he's going to throw it up. "Wow this is actually good! It's not that bad! Now I know why Cody likes this so much!" he said while munching

"I'm glad you like it!"

Moments later, Maddie's cell phone rang. She quickly pulled it from her pocket and flipped it open.

"Hello?"

"Maddie, do you want to go shopping?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Didn't I say no?" she said, while Zack looked at her and mouthed, "who's that?"

"Why not? I invited Corrie and Mary-Margaret to come with us!"

"London, I really can't--"

"We'll be there in five minutes! Tootles!" and London clicked off.

Maddie scowled. "Five minutes? What do you mean—hello?" she looked at her cell phone and scowled.

"Why?" Zack asked

"London's being a brat again. I told her I can't go shopping with her, but she's on her way here in five minutes to pick me up. Why can't she understand—"

"—that I'm more important than your own enjoyment?" he asked her but she looked down on her plate

"Zack, you're my priority." _Wait a minute. Did I say "priority"? Where did that come from? Since when did Zack become your priority?_

Somehow, she felt that it was a wrong thing to say.

"I-I mean, your mom wouldn't like it if I leave you here while I shop. I'll be in serious trouble, you know what I mean?" she said, fumbling

Zack smirked. "Whatever you say, Maddie."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Oh God, she's not kidding!" she quickly stood up to answer the door, and Zack followed.

She opened the door and saw London with Corrie and Mary-Margaret. A limo was parked behind them and two bodyguards were standing. "Hi!" she managed at last. She opened the door wider and let the three girls in.

"Are you ready?" London asked and went straight inside. Her eyes widened when she saw Zack. "Hey Zack!" she glanced at Maddie "So it's true..."

"What's true?" he looked at Maddie, totally confused.

"Corrie, Mary-Margaret, this is Zack. Zack, Corrie and Mary-Margaret, my friends." she said, trying to avoid the question

Zack smiled at them and shook their hands. "I think we've met before at Maddie's birthday, but we weren't introduced properly. Good to see you again! I love meeting sweet thang's friends!"

Corrie and Mary-Margaret exchanged glances. "Did he say sweet thang?" Mary-Margaret asked

"Yeah, that's what he calls her." London answered. "He's got a little crush on her, and I have always found it cute. I don't know why Maddie's so uptight about it!"

Maddie narrowed her eyes at London

"Oh, don't look at me like that. I'm just telling the truth! And besides, they're our friends. Friends don't keep secrets, right? You're the one who told me that!"

"Uh, London, can we change the topic?" Zack suggested, although quite amused with London's candidness

"Sure! What topic? My fortune? Oh, I have a gazillion dollars!" she exclaimed

"We all know that!" all of them replied in unison, except for Corrie, who clapped and cheered for her. "Yay you, London!"

"Excuse us one second." Maddie said and dragged London in the kitchen, leaving Zack, Corrie, and Mary-Margaret in the living room.

"So… I'm guessing you're London's classmates?" Zack asked

Corrie nodded in exaggeration.

"Unfortunately" Mary said sulkily

"I'm so excited! I'm shopping with London Tipton!" Corrie said in delight

Mary gave her a stupid look. "You already said that a hundred and sixty eight times today."

Zack shook his head and stifled a giggle.

**XxX**

"London, I told you I can't go."

"C'mon Maddie! I need your opinion on my clothes. You have to come!"

"Why don't you try Corrie and Mary? I'm sure they have excellent tastes in clothes!"

"But Corrie creeps me out! And Mary doesn't even like me. I just called them because I thought you're going to change your mind if they come."

"London, I'd really love to but..." she paused, "Zack is not feeling well. Carey asked me to watch over him. I can't just leave him here!"

"Then let's take him! I'm sure he would love to shop!" she said casually

Maddie widened her eyes. "Are you out of your mind?! Carey will kill me!"

London gasped. "Carey's a killer?" She replied with a fear on her face.

Before Maddie could reply, Zack suddenly walked in.

"Are you two done arguing? We can hear you over there." he said, looking from Maddie to London.

"She started it!" London said pointing at Maddie, "I just want her to help me pick my clothes!"

"Maddie," Zack gazed at her, "If you want to go shopping, go ahead. I'm okay. Don't worry about me. I feel fine anyway. And don't worry about mom, she won't know anything."

"You heard that? Now let's go! We'll wait for you in the limo!" London said and made her way towards the door.

"Zack, are you sure?" Maddie asked when London disappeared

Zack nodded with a weak smile. "Go ahead. I want you to enjoy. It's your day off. You're supposed to have fun and not get stuck here taking care of me."

She thought about it for a minute. Actually, she really needs to shop. She just received her paycheck the other day and she didn't get the chance to go out. She'll be busy in school in the coming weeks so there's no better time to go out than now.

Maddie placed her hand on his shoulder. "Thanks Zack! Don't worry, I'm sure Grandma will be here soon!" she said and headed towards the door.

Feeling sad, Zack walked in the living room and slumped on the couch. He turned on the TV and started flipping the channels. He somehow hoped that Maddie would say, _"No, it's okay, Zack. I'd rather stay here with you." _

What happened to what she said minutes ago?_  
_

_"Zack, you're my priority." _her voice echoed in his head.

"Psh. Who are you kidding?" he said, still flipping the channels. He can't seem to find something interesting to watch so he just laid on the couch and tried to take a nap. That way, he'll temporarily forget his bitter feelings.

* * *

_A/N: I'm sorry for not updating in a while. Work-study is not easy. (lol) __Anways, I hope you liked it. I'm not sure about this chapter so... please tell me what you think. :)  
_

_And now, time for **THANK YOUs!!!**_

_**Rongo, Lennie1984, ceps****, MaseyIsLove, Sharpay, Ghostwriter626****, Hayden, HELENz, jcg2491, actingalexis, CHEL08 **(lol deep)_

_Thank you for reading, I really appreciate your reviews:) _**  
**


	15. Suppressed feelings

He wasn't sleepy, but there's really nothing better to do. He just hoped that his mom would arrive and take him home already. He didn't want to stay in that house any longer. It was clear: Maddie got tired of watching over him. There was no reason to stay.

Suddenly, he heard a soft knock on the door.

He stood up, wondering who could it be. _"That's Maddie!_ _She came back for you!"_ said the tiny voice in his head.

_"Oh shut up! Of course it's not--__" _he opened the door and was astounded to see who it was. "--Maddie?"

"Hey." she muttered

"Hey."

Maddie made her way inside without a word and that made him a little bit confused. He glared at her and waited for her to speak up.

"I changed my mind." Maddie finally managed to speak. "I can't do it. I can't stand the idea that I left you alone, it's just so selfish and immature..." Maddie looked at his eyes. "I'm sorry. I really am." she said, biting her lower lip.

Zack couldn't contain his happiness. "You don't have to say sorry." he said and smiled softly at her. _"_I'm happy enough to see you back."

"Aww." she said and hugged him. "You're so sweet! How can I make it up to you?" she asked and pulled away from him.

Zack smiled at her. "The fact that you chose me over shopping, it's more than enough for me..." he paused, "although I wouldn't say no to a kiss!" he said, switching his gaze to her lips.

Much to his surprise, Maddie grew serious and slowly leaned forward to him. He froze in total astonishment. His heart raced in anticipation and excitement as she gets closer to him.

Suddenly, she stopped and shook her head. "Not so fast!" she blurted and poked his forehead.

She stood up and walked away, leaving Zack extremely dismayed. "Well, that stinks, coz I have always been told that I'm a great kisser, and I'm quite popular with the girls for it! You just blew your chance, sister!" When she didn't reply back, he followed her in the kitchen. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to wash the dishes--" she paused and faced him "unless you want to do it." she joked.

He never washed dishes before. It's Cody's job. He hates that chore more than anything, but if he wants to be an ideal future husband for her, he's got to try.

Thinking she was serious, Zack reluctantly agreed. "S-sure! I'll do it! If... if you want to! I-I mean, how can hard can it be?"

"Don't worry about it, Zack. I was just kidding. I do have another favor for you, though."

He sighed in relief. "Anything!" _I'll do anything except the dishes._

"I want you to go back in the room and get rest."

"But I'm not tired! I'm totally—"

"Do that for me!" she interrupted and turned away

He shrugged and returned to his room.

**XxX**

She was piling up the plates when her cell phone rang.

_This must be London again,_ she thought.

She flipped the phone open. "London, its final. I'm staying with Zack and I'm not going to leave him. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"It's me Carey." There was a long pause before she managed to speak.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Carey. I thought you were London."

"Yeah, I noticed that. Why would you leave Zack? Where were you supposed to go?"

Maddie sighed. "London was bugging me to shop with her and I told her that I need to watch over Zack, but she still came over today to pick me up."

"Well, you're free to go. I'm on my way there anyway." She continued, "So you're saying you didn't go shopping on your off? That's news to me!"

"Uh... Well... I'm just doing what you asked me to do!" she replied, although something tells her that it was something else...

"I bet you are. Alright, I'll see you in a bit!" she clicked off. Maddie went inside Zack's room.

She found him reading magazine. "Hey Zack!" she said and sat on the edge of his bed. He looked at her and waited for her response. "Your mom's going to be here any minute to pick you up. You're going home."

He gasped in horror.

"Tell her I'm sleeping!" Zack replied and immediately pulled the blanket over himself, pretending to sleep.

She glared in confusion. "Why would I do that?"

"So I can stay longer!" He replied without opening his eyes.

Maddie let out a little laugh. "Sorry, you have to go home."

Zack sat up with a sad expression on his face. "I don't want to go back to the suite. I feel weird seeing those boxes full of our stuff." He looked up. "I love Tipton, I mean..." he paused, shaking his head, "I can't believe this is really happening. I can't believe I'm really leaving!"

She can't believe it either. But instead of telling him she really feels sad too, she gave him a weak smile. "Trust me, it's a good thing! You don't wanna get stuck at the Tipton, I know I don't!" she said, trying to sound like it's not a big deal at all.

Zack just stared at her, which made her feel conscious. "What?" she asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear

"Nothing. I just... miss you." he said, staring at her face

"You miss me? You haven't even left my house yet!" she joked.

Zack maintained a serious face. "Haven't you noticed? We haven't really talked that much in the last couple of weeks."

Slightly confused, she asked, "What do you mean? We see each other everyday!"

"I know..." he retorted."But we talk less and less everyday. I can't even remember the last time we had a nice conversation, you know, before this whole thing happened."

She thought about it for a minute. He's right. She even thought at one point that he already got over his 'little crush' on her. Whenever she sees him in the lobby coming from school, he's with different girls. Although recently, she noticed that he's been hanging out with the British twins a lot.

He continued as though he can read her mind. "Don't get me wrong, I still have this 'love' thing going on with you, it's just that... I've been busy with school recently."

"You mean busy dating girls in your school?" she asked

He was cornered. "Well, yeah, that's another way to put it! But these girls in my school are just..." he shook his head, "they're not like you!"

The corner of her mouth pouted. "Why do you even compare me to them?"

He shrugged and replied. "Well, I tried to follow your advice when I was 12. Remember you told me to find girls my age? I did. I tried to keep you off my mind and focus on 'girls my age' in school. But those girls in school are shallow! They're stuck-up brats and demanding! I wish more girls we're like you..."

Maddie gave her a warm smile. "Well, thanks. That was nice of you to say but don't give up! There are still plenty of girls out there who fits your ideal girl."

"I hope, because if I reach 30 and I still haven't found someone like you, forgive me Maddie, but I will really abduct you this time and I'm not going to bring you back." He said, matter-of-factly.

Maddie just laughed and checked his temperature for the last time. "Your temperature's fine now. How's your headache?"

"It's gone!"

"Very good! Get dressed! Grandma washed your clothes from last night so you can wear it now." she stood up and headed towards the door

"Oh no!" Zack cried

"What's wrong?" she turned around, with a worried look

"I can't move! Can you help me change my clothes?" he said, with a grin

"Ha Ha." she laughed sarcastically when they heard a knock on the door.

"It must be your mom!"

She quickly walked over the living room to open the door. Grandma, Liam and Carey are standing in front of her.

"Hi Maddie!" greeted Carey

"Hi!" and the three of them entered the house.

"We saw her on our way here so we walked altogether." grandma explained and walked Liam to his room.

"That smells good, what did you have for lunch?" Carey asked as she sniffed the air

"Oh, it's Lemon Garlic Broccoli." Maddie replied

"Oh that sounds yummy! What did Zack eat?"

"Lemon Garlic Broccoli!" she said with a little laugh

"Yeah right!" she said, chuckling. "No, seriously?"

Zack dashed out of the room and joined the conversation. "Mom, she's not lying."

Carey looked up to him. "How come you don't eat when I cook it?"

"Mom, when you're eating with a beautiful girl, you'll be embarrassed not to give it a shot."

Carey glared at him. "What are you trying to say, Zackary?"

"Nothing." He said innocently.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, placing her palm on his forehead.

"I'm still sick. Can I stay for another night?" he said with pleading eyes

"Oh no, honey, were going home."

"But—"

"No buts. Get dressed and we're leaving."

Zack went back in the room with a spasm of dismay

"So Maddie, how was your talk with Moseby?" she asked

"It was good. He was very understanding."

"That's good." She said. "Oh, thank you for taking care of Zack!" she said, handing her a $20 bill.

For the first time, she didn't feel right taking the money. _Everything she did for him wasn't for money..._

"Um… no Carey, it's okay."

Carey was slightly taken aback. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I'm sure."

Carey shrugged. "Okay." she replied, putting back the money in her purse.

Zack finally went out, and softly spoke. "Let's go." he said

Carey stood up and Maddie ushered them to the door. "Bye Carey! Bye Zack!"

"Bye..." he said with a hint of sadness in his voice. Carey smiled at her and they walked out of the door. "See you tomorrow at the Tipton!" Maddie nodded and shut the door.

Grandma sneaked in behind her. "I think he's a very sweet boy. I love him."

"Me too."

Grandma gave her the look.

"I-I mean, I also think he's a very sweet… boy." With that, she turned and walked away.

**XxX**

At the Tipton

Zack walked inside the suite, followed by Carey. Cody was reading a book, and looked up when they opened the door.

"What's up dopey?" Zack said

Cody glared at him.

"Well, the 'dopey' packed your suitcase, cleaned the room, and did your laundry."

Zack clapped in an exaggerated way. "Congratulations! You just won the 'the dorkiest twin' award! Speech?" he chuckled, and headed inside their room. Cody just gave him a stupid look and continued reading.

"Zackary!" Carey called him.

"Mom?" he retorted

"Sit down." she ordered him.

He sat down next to Cody while Carey sat on the little table across the couch.

"Don't ever do that again! I was worried sick about you!" she said. "Did you know that Maddie almost lost her job?"

"I'm sorry, mom." he said in a very sincere way.

She sighed before continuing. "Zack, I know this whole moving thing is not easy for you. But in life, we have to make decisions or changes. And it won't make us happy all the time. There are decisions that we have to make, even if it's against our will, because it's for the benefit of everybody. That's bravery. That's selfless act. And I think Maddie will appreciate you more if you'll face this like a grown up."

"What mom's trying to say is," Cody blurted, "forget Maddie!"

"No!" he exclaimed "Mom, that's not what you mean, is it?" he asked

Carey shook her head. "Actually, what I'm trying to say is--"

"You'll never see Maddie again." Cody replied, pouting.

Zack gave him a sharp look. "Will you shut the—"

"Cody…." Carey gave him a warning look. "Why don't you clean the bathroom?"

With that, Cody closed his book and walked away with a grin on his face.

Carey stood up and walked to the kitchen.

"Mom?"

She stopped and turned around "Yes, honey?"

He was hesitating at first, but he continued anyway. "If a girl tells a guy that he has a special place in her heart, what does that mean?" he asked in curiosity.

Carey sat next to him on the couch.

"It means that… he's a lucky guy!"

"Really? Is that another way of saying that she's in-love with him?" he said, facing her.

Carey shook her head. "Not really." Zack got a little dismayed. "It can mean anything. It probably means that she treasures his friendship with her. It can also mean that he's an important person in her life. Maybe she saw something from that guy that she didn't see in others." Carey explained. "Whatever the reason is, one thing is for sure: That guy's a winner."

Zack slowly broke into a smile. "Winner…" he muttered under his breath.

"Why do you ask?"

"Uh... nothing." He replied innocently.

"Nothing? You wouldn't ask it if it's nothing. C'mon honey, tell me."

Zack felt a little awkward. He really wanted to tell her the truth, but he wanted to keep it first. "Really, its nothing. I'm just… curious."

Carey just shrugged and stood up to check the cake in the oven.

"So how was your stay with Maddie?"

Zack grabbed the remote control and started to flip the channels. "Fine." _Fine? Are you kidding? It's the best time of your life!  
_

"Her grandma told me that Maddie took care of you well. I hope you didn't give her a hard time."

"Of course not!" Zack said. "But I did piss off one guy…" Zack said as he remembered his funny encounter with Trevor.

Thinking that he was referring to Liam, she replied, "Oh yeah, Maddie's brother. He really is a booger! He kept on saying I'm fat and I looked like a man with my hair!"

Zack giggled. "Although I hate the kid, I have to agree with him."

Carey gave him a stupid look.

"Oh c'mon mom, it was a joke!"

"It better be, Zack."

Cody peeked behind the door and yelled, "Mom, he's not kidding!"

"Will you just clean the dang bathroom?" Zack yelled and threw him a pillow.

**XxX**

**That night.**

Maddie was getting ready to sleep when she can't help but glance at the empty bed next to her. For the first time in years, she **felt **lonely.

The sadness is overwhelming that she needed to vent it out.

She opened her drawer and pulled out her diary. She hadn't used it for months. She only picks it up if she really needs to spill her feelings out without ever telling anyone about it.

She grabbed her pen and started to write on it.

_Dear Diary,_

_I'm not really sure what I'm going to say.  
_

_I'm just feeling unusually lonely tonight. Don't even ask me why.  
_

_Cause I don't know. Or maybe I do.  
_

_Okay. You really wanna know why?_

_Here's why._

_I miss him.  
_

_Can you believe it?  
_

_Me neither._

_What is happening to me? _

_This is scary.  
_

_No, it can't be._

_It can't be._

She stopped writing and returned the diary in its place.

"I seriously need some sleep. Tomorrow, I'll just laugh about this whole silliness." She thought to herself and tried to get some sleep.

* * *

_A/N: Sorry, its too long. I'm kinda scared cos you might find it extremely boring. I hope not.  
_

_My aim is to finish this fanfic on or before Christmas. Ho! Ho! Ho!  
_

_I hope you liked the chapter. I did the best I can. :)  
_

**_Thank YOU_**

**_Ghostwriter626, Hayden, Sharpay, _****_actingalexis13, _****_ceps, Rongo, _****_Lennie1984, DramaQueen94_**

_Thanks for your wonderful reviews:)_

_-- EDITED! LOL The One and Only Dana, thanks for pointing that out:)  
_


	16. In denial

The next morning, Maddie woke up and the first thing that entered her mind was none other than Zack.

She bolted upright in bed and gathered her thoughts.

_Funny, I dreamt of missing Zack, and I even wrote it in my diary! Like that's gonna happen!_

She threw a glance at the drawer where she kept her diary. _Wait a minute, it was only a dream, wasn't it?_

She pulled the drawer, took out the diary and flipped the page to the last entry.

She covered her mouth in surprise. _"Oh darn. I really did miss him!"_

Suddenly, a soft music broke the silence of the house. It was coming from the living room. Her grandma loves playing the Platters CD every now and then.

While re-reading her entry, the music slightly distracted her.

"_They asked me how I knew  
__My true love was true…oh…  
__I, of course, replied  
__Something here inside  
__Cannot be denied…"_

She rolled her eyes and sighed.

_She's not mocking me, is she?_

After Zack and Carey left yesterday, her grandma did nothing but tease her. She was constantly telling her that _"your grandpa and I were just like you and Zack when we were young! He was the flirt and I was the hard-to-get girl! I never thought we would end up with each other because we were the total opposites!" _Maddie just laughed at everything she said.

She decided to put the diary away and got ready for work. She left home and arrived at the Tipton at 9 am when she's not supposed to start her shift till 10. Her grandma teased her even more, saying that she was "too excited" to see Zack.

**XxX**

**At the Tipton**

Moseby was surprised to see Maddie so early. She told him that she didn't want to be late for the day. But in the back of her mind, she was really excited to go to work. She had never been excited to start her shift before.

"Hey!" Esteban snapped his fingers in her face

"What?" she said, and started straightening the candies.

"What happened to you?"

She cocked her head and scowled. "What do you mean?"

"I just noticed that you're smiling a lot than the usual."

"Well," she paused. "I'm just happy because... I'm back to work! Isn't that a reason to smile?"

Before Esteban could reply, a familiar voice interrupted them. "Hello Maddie."

It was Trevor, walking towards them.

She looked up to him with a surprised look. "Hey Trevor!"

Esteban looked from Trevor to Maddie and smiled, "Ooh... I think I know why you're smiling a lot today." With that, he turned went back to his work.

Trevor was confused but Maddie just shook her head. "Don't listen to him."

"Oh." He smiled and moved closer to the counter. "I'm here to apologize about yesterday. I just left without telling you. Your boyfriend told me everything and I understand that-"

"Actually," Maddie said, chuckling. "Zack is not my boyfriend. He was just teasing you!"

Trevor cocked his head in confusion. "Okay, wait a minute. You mean he's not... you're not..."

Maddie shook her head. "We're not."

"Oh…" he laughed. "Oh, I can't believe I fell for it! He was good!"

Maddie just nodded. "Wasn't he?"

Trevor clasped his hands together and asked, "So does that mean I can invite you for breakfast or early lunch?"

Quite surprised, she replied. "Yeah, I would love to but I'm not sure if Moseby will allow me. You know, I recently had a trouble with him."

"I heard my name!" Moseby said walking towards them and smiled at Trevor. "Is there any problem?"

"Uh… I was just wondering if I may invite her out for breakfast." Trevor asked and glanced at Maddie.

Without thinking, he replied, "Of course you may! Go ahead Madeline. You came in too early anyway; just make sure you'll be back in an hour."

Maddie and Trevor exchanged glances.

"Thanks Mr. Moseby." Maddie said.

"No problem." He said and quickly walked over to one of the guests.

Trevor looked at Maddie. "Shall we?"

Maddie smiled and linked her arm to his.

Few moments later, Zack came out of the elevator. When he didn't see Maddie in her usual spot, he turned to Esteban.

"Esteban, is Maddie working today?"

"Yes, but she left awhile ago with some guy which I don't remember the name."

He felt a lump in his throat. "Some guy?"

"Yeah, he has a brown hair and he carried a pile of books in his arm."

He quickly knew who Esteban was talking about.

_What!_ He screamed in his mind. _Didn't I just ditch that guy? Why did he come back now?  
_

Disappointed, he walked towards the candy counter and sat on the stairs in front of the elevator.

Suddenly, London came out of the elevator and walked into the counter. "Where's Maddie?"

"She went out with what's-his-face."

"What's his what?" she asked, totally confused

"She went out with Trevor!" he answered irritably

"Trevor? As in the cute merit scholar? He's back?" she replied, ignoring his bad mood.

He stood up and faced her. "You know him?"

"Yeah! We went out on a couple of dates, but the loser likes Maddie more. I still have his number though."

An idea struck him.

"So you can help me!"

She gave him a dirty look. "You want to hook up with him? How dare you! He's mine!" she replied defensively.

"NO!" he exclaimed with the look of disgust. "I want you to make him go away. I mean, since you have his number, why don't you call him and ask him out or whatever, I don't care. I just don't want to see them together!"

"And then? " she said, placing her hand on her waist

"Then you'll get Trevor and I'll get Maddie! Got it?" he said through gritted teeth.

"Ooh..." she slowly nodded. "Do I have to go to those boring painting exhibits and art museums?" she asked

He threw his hands on the air. "I don't care London! I don't care! Just help me get that nerd out of the way!" he said, almost yelling.

London gasped and scowled at him. "If you're going to ask for my help, at least be nice to me!"

He crossed his arms over his chest. "Only if you'll start being nice to Maddie!"

"I'll be nice to her if she'll be nice to me! She always tells me that I'm her best friend, but she only likes my stuff and I feel like she's scamming me most of the time! Newsflash! Maddie is not a saint, she can be a jerk too! In fact, she's a BIG one!"

Zack unfolded his arms and raised it in surrender. "London, you are filthy rich, and she got nothing. You have to understand that she can't afford the things you have," he explained patiently and looked from afar,"...but someday when I get rich, she will marry me and I can give her everything!" he continued in a dreamy state, and faced London again. "Now, if you're not gonna help me, we'll never get married, and she'll be scamming you for the rest of your life!" he said, trying to threaten her.

She thought about it for a second. "Okay, I'll help you but you better be nice to me or you're not gonna get her."

Zack rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'm sorry. Now can you help me?"

"What's the magic word?" she said, mocking him

"PLEASE?" he said with a forced smile

"Okay! You got it!" they shook hands.

"So, what's your plan?" he asked.

"Leave it to me. I know exactly what to do." she walked away and stopped. "Oh, can you carry these bags to my suite?"

"Why don't you carry it yourself?"

"Be nice, remember?" she said, raising the bags

"Fine." he grabbed the bags and walked with her.

**XxX**

After they ate, Trevor walked with Maddie back to the counter and left immediately for his meeting. Meanwhile, the British twins walked in the lobby and went straight in the candy counter. "Hi! How can I help you?" Maddie cheerfully asked

"Have you seen Zack and Cody?" Janice asked

She was about to reply when Zack and Cody suddenly came out of the elevator. "Look who's here!" Zack exclaimed

"Oh they're here. Never mind." Janice and Jessica smiled and waved at them. "Hi Zack! Hi Cody!"

"Hello ladies!" Zack greeted them in a flirtatious way. "What a nice surprise! What brought you here?"

The girls exchanged glances before one of them spoke. "We were really sad when we heard that you're moving out so we decided to drop by and maybe we could hang out at the park before you leave?"

Zack glanced at Cody before replying. "Wow, that's… interesting because we were about to ask you the same thing! Right Cody?"

"Actually, you went down to see Mad--" Zack quickly covered his mouth. "Shut up Cody, don't ruin it!" he said in the corner of his mouth. "Uh... yeah, I went down to see Maddie because... I want to buy you some candies!" He walked towards the counter and propped his elbow on it. "Hey Maddie, can you give me two chocolate bars for two lovely ladies?"

Maddie gave him the odd look and handed him two chocolate bars. "2 dollars."

Zack stuffed his hands on his pocket, and he realized he has no money. He really didn't want to buy anything from the counter, he just wanted to see her reaction.

"Uh... actually, it was Cody's idea so he's gonna pay!" he pulled Cody in front and asked him to pay. Cody just shook his head and handed her 2 dollars. Zack took the chocolate bars and gave them to Janice and Jessica.

"Thanks Zack you're so sweet!" Jessica said

"Really sweet!" Janice replied

"Actually," Cody gave him a sharp look. "I paid for it."

Janice and Jessica gave him a hug. "Aww Cody, you shouldn't have."

Zack rolled his eyes.

"Can we go now?" Jessica asked.

"Let's go! I want to go the park! I'm just not sure with Zack." Cody replied and glared at him.

He glanced at Maddie before replying. "Of course I-I want to go to the park!" He moved closer to Jessica and held her hand. "Come here Jessica, let me hold your hand. I don't want you out of my sight! Oh, let me carry that!" he said, taking the books in her arm.

"Oh, Thanks Zack." she said, blushing.

Cody wrapped his arm around Janice and they all walked out.

Maddie felt weird. _Why is he doing this? Oh wait. Why do you care Maddie? Aren't you the one who told him to find girls his age? Now what? Don't tell me you're…Of course not! Silly!  
_

After attending to a few guests, she decided to take her short break and went upstairs to the Martin's suite.

Maddie knocked on the door and Carey answered it.

"Hey Maddie!"

"Hey." She went inside and saw several boxes laying on the floor. She felt a pang of sadness in her heart. "Wow, you guys are all packed up."

"Yeah!" Carey said as she move the boxes out of the way, "We're almost done with these!" She faced her and placed her hands on her hips. "What can I do for you?"

"I just needed to talk to you about something that's been bugging me." She pulled a chair in the dining table and sat. Carey sat across her. Maddie heaved a deep sighed and continued. "It's about Zack."

"What about him? Did he break something? Did he cause trouble?"

"No, he didn't break anything. I just…" she paused and sighed. "Oh, this is so awkward."

Carey moved her chair forward. "Go ahead honey, what's the matter?"

"I… uh… I think I'm starting to like him." she looked up to Carey and she had a blank expression. "Look, this is as awkward for me as it is for you, but I feel like I need to open it up cause you're not different to me."

She let out a little laugh and replied, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know, Carey. It's strange. I think I'm slowly... falling for him." she said, looking down on her lap.

Carey was taken aback and stared at her for a minute. "Okay, wait a minute. I just wanna make sure that we are talking about the same Zack. Are we talking about my son?"

"Yeah. Zack, as in your obnoxious son. As in the one I babysit. As in my 'admirer'." She explained, doing the quotation mark in the air.

"Wow. Really? You're... in-love with him? Is that what you're saying?" she asked, still couldn't believe what Maddie had just said.

"No, no... I'm not in love, it's kinda complicated… I am so confused! He was my last thought before I sleep, and this morning he was the first thing on my mind. And can you believe this, I got jealous with that Jessica or Janice, whoever that is! I mean, I was the one who asked him to find girls his age, and now... I don't understand what's going on with me. It's like all of a sudden, I realized how important he is to me. It's silly and ridiculous! I feel so wrong. It's so wrong." she replied, resting her chin on one hand.

"I thought you actually hate him?" she asked, still trying to process what she said.

"That's what I thought too. But I realized that I don't really hate him. I was just trying discourage him so he would leave me alone." she paused. "I talked too much, didn't I? Sorry."

"No, don't be. I'm glad that you talked to me about this. You know honestly, if I could choose any girl in the world for Zack, it would be you, Maddie."

"Me?" she asked in total disbelief

Carey nodded with a smile. "Why not? He loves you and I know my son will be in good hands if you will be together. I know that's a surprise for you, but it's true."

Her face flushed bright red. "Oh... that's really sweet." she smiled and continued, "Thank you." She didn't really know how to respond to that. She wasn't prepared to hear it from her.

"I'm just curious. Why him, of all the hot guys who are dying to date you? Not that there's something wrong with Zack or anything, I'm just really surprised!"

She bit her lip and replied, "Honestly, I don't know either."

She nodded slowly and asked her again. "So... since when?"

Maddie gave her a confused look and muttered an "oh" when she figured out what she meant. "Um... since yesterday?"

"Since yesterday? Uh... I don't believe that."

"What do you mean?"

She smiled patiently and explained. "It can't be just yesterday. You probably felt that way for a long time now, you just don't acknowledge it. You can't fall in love overnight, Maddie. It takes time to develop. Maybe you were just too stubborn to admit it."

"You think so?" she hesitantly asked

She gave her a reassuring smile. "I think so."

Maddie glanced at her and asked, "Carey, have you ever been with a younger guy before?"

"Oh yeah!" she replied, nodding

"Really? Tell me about it!" she asked with genuine interest.

"I remember this guy in college, his name is Sean. We dated for almost a year, and all the while I thought we have the same age, but I found out that he's seven years younger than me. That's worst, Maddie, he lied to me cos he knows I'd never date a younger man. I hated him at first but I looked past the age difference and saw him for who he really was. I was 24 and he was 18.Too bad he went away and we never saw each other again. Point is, there's nothing wrong with liking a younger man..."

"But Zack isn't just a younger man. He's still practically... a kid." She didn't know why, but she felt wrong referring to Zack as a "kid."

"Oh c'mon Maddie, Zack is a teenager, not a kid. And besides, your age difference isn't even that big!" she paused for a second and continued. "But if the age gap is really bothering you, I guess you have no choice but to wait for him."

"But what if I waited and it turned out that he doesn't love me anymore and he had already forgotten about me?"

"You know the old saying: _You never forget your first love._" She glared at him and tilted her head. "You do realize that you are his first love, right?"

"If you can call it love." she blurted. "It can be just infatuation, or a simple crush." she said

"I know my son. He hasn't acted this way until he met you."

She heaved a deep sigh. "I just wish this stupid feeling will go away." She looked up to her and smiled softly. "Thanks for this talk, Carey. No one understands me the way you do."

She smiled sweetly at her. "Anytime sweetie. So... are you planning to tell him?"

"No!" she blurted. "Please don't tell anyone about it, especially Zack."

She nodded. "You have my word."

Suddenly, the main door opened and Zack walked in, followed by Cody. Before coming up to their suite, he got pissed when he didn't see Maddie in her usual spot in the counter. He thought she went out with Trevor again so he was a little surprised to see her in the suite.

"Hey stranger." Zack greeted, pulling a chair right next to her and sat.

Maddie just smiled and glanced at Carey.

Carey gave her a meaningful look. "Where have you been?"

"To the park with the beautiful Janice and Jessica." Cody replied with a dreamy look on his face.

"As usual, they were all over Cody." he glanced at Cody for a second and gave him a sharp look. Cody mouthed "what?!" and headed to their room. "I don't know why no one loves me." He turned to Maddie. "Am I not lovable, Maddie?"

Carey let out a fake cough and glanced at her.

Maddie pushed back from the table and stood up. "I have to go. I don't wanna get in trouble with Moseby again."

Zack looked up to her. "What? I just walked in and you're leaving?"

"I really have to. Thanks Carey! See you later." She immediately headed to the door.

Carey stared at Zack with a grin.

"What?" he asked

"I'm proud of you."

Zack raised his eyebrow. "Whoa. That's new. What did I do?"

"Nothing." She stood up and continued working on the boxes.

**XxX**

"It didn't work!"

Zack walked inside their room and threw himself on the bed.

Cody was seated on his bed, polishing his trophies and replied without looking at him. "What didn't work?"

"She didn't get jealous! I was flirting with Jessica in front of her, and she didn't even care!" he complained

Cody stopped for a second and glanced at him. "Why would she get jealous? She doesn't even like you."

"Yes she does!" He paused and continued. "In my dreams."

"Zack, did it ever occur to you that she might be more interested in guys around her age? C'mon, there are plenty of girls in the world--"

"Not in my world!"

"Forget her!"

Zack got pissed this time. He bolted upright in his bed and glared at him.

"Forget her? You think I didn't try? Why do you think I went out with a bunch of girls in school? If you think I'm interested with them, well you're wrong! I only did that because I was trying to forget her. I tried, alright! So don't say I didn't try, cos I did!"

Cody glared at him for a second and let out a chuckle. "Dude, you're obsessed."

"I'm not obsessed. You're just saying that because you haven't been in-love like this and you have no idea what's it like to leave someone you love! Consider yourself lucky for not feeling this way." He said and stood up to watch TV in the living room.

"That's what you think." Cody muttered.

He stopped and looked down at him. "What do you mean?"

Cody carefully wrapped his trophies in a bubble wrap one by one. "I like this girl and it's not Janice, but I'm not gonna tell you who she is."

"Why not?"

"You don't want to know."

He walked closer to him. "Oh c'mon! Who is it?"

"Not gonna tell you." Cody replied without looking at him

"Do I know her?"

"Yes."

"Is she someone from our school?"

"No. She's one of the girls here in Tipton. Zack, stop asking—"

"Is she older?" he interrupted

"Yes."

"Is she… blonde? Does she work in the candy counter?" He asked with a hint of suspicion.

Cody stopped wrapping the trophies and glared at him. "You really want to know?"

* * *

_A/N: Aaaahhhh! Cliffhanger! lol _

_Anyway, **I lied**. I can't possibly finish this by Christmas. I'm sorry. :( If only I'm not so busy..._

_I don't know if you know the Platters, but they we're popular in the 50s and I really like them so I decided to include one of their songs in here.  
_

_Oh btw, thanks for not finding the last chapter boring! Since you like long chapters, I gave you another one and this is by far the longest chapter. lol  
_

**_Thank youuuuuuu so much! _**

**_ceps, Sharpay, Rongo, The One and Only Dana, MaseyIsLove, Lennie, Hayden, actingalexis13, Ghostwriter626, HELENz_**

_Hope you liked it! (crosses fingers) Happy Holidays:)  
_


	17. Pranks and Rumors

"Oh come on, do you really have to ask? Yes! I want to know!"

He glared at him for a second and shrugged. "Well, too bad, I'm not telling." he said, wiping his trophy with a dry cloth

Zack scoffed. "You're telling me you like someone and you expect me to let you get away with it?" Cody ignored him so he continued. "Fine. Just tell me it isn't Maddie and I wouldn't bother you. That's all I need to know."

Cody formed a wry smile on his lips and replied, "Zack, have you heard of the phrase 'sharing is caring?' I care for you so I wouldn't mind sharing!"

Zack looked at him in suspicion. "And what do you mean by that?"

"I mean, we're twins. It's not impossible that at one point, we are going to like the same girl and… sharing is not a bad idea, don't you think so?"

Zack let out a dry laugh.

"Sh-share? So you want me to share Maddie. HAHA. Very funny, Cody. That is your most pathetic idea ever!" he went out of the room and shut the door, leaving Cody with broad grin on his face. Seconds later, he went back with a pleading look. "Tell me you're kidding…"

Cody sighed. "Alright. If it will help you sleep well tonight. NO. She isn't blonde, she doesn't work in the candy counter, and she's definitely not Maddie. I'm just messing with your stupid little head!" he said, chuckling

He let out a sigh of relief. "Whoa. You scared me there for a second!" He said. "So… if she's not blonde… I suppose she's brunette?"

"The last time I checked, yes. So stop asking!"

"Is she rich?"

"I said--"

"Is she named after a city? Is she a spoiled heiress?" he asked, grinning

Cody glared at him and raised his palms. "Fine! You got it right! And you can wipe that stupid grin off your face, it's not funny!"

Zack stopped smiling for a second and replied, "It's not a joke?"

He gave him a stupid look.

"Do I look like I'm joking? I'm serious!"

"Wow. That was quite a surprise there. I never noticed!"

Cody groaned. "Why would you notice when you're too busy drooling over Maddie?" he implied as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Wait… Wait… So, how? Why? Since when?" he asked, totally interested

"I liked her since I first saw her, I just never told anyone about it. I know behind that happy face, there's a sad person that needs comfort and love. London needs someone who'll understand her, someone who'll patiently explain to her the difference between Christmas and Hannukah… Someone who can prove to her that money isn't everything..." he paused and looked from afar. "Someone like me."

Zack slightly chuckled. "Oh, the irony. Five minutes ago you were telling me to forget Maddie cause 'she might be interested in guys her age'. Well, who needs a reality check now?" Cody stood up and carefully placed his trophies in a big box. "So, when are you planning to tell her?" Zack continued.

"Are you crazy? I'm not telling her!"

"What? What's wrong with you?"

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not like you, Zack. You can easily tell a girl how you feel and that is very difficult for me. I can't even look straight to her! Geez!"

"If you'll just lay off the crossword puzzles, maybe you'd learn a thing or two about girls.And because I'm your older and wiser brother, I'll help you with her."

Cody gave him a stupid look. "I'm not gonna tell her and you can't make me."

Zack threw his hands on the air. "Fine. So you'll just let that Trevor get London? Just so you know, she really likes him!"

"She can date any guy she wants. I'm happy with what I'm getting from her. Besides, I'm not the type who dreams there could be more."

"You're such a loser. Just tell her!"

"What for? So she'll laugh at my face? Zack, it's not like she's going to love me if I tell her how I feel. I'll end up just like you-constantly rejected."

"Hey, I'm not constantly rejected!" he said defensively. "She will marry me someday, just wait and see!"

"Yea. In your dreams!" Cody retorted.

Zack rolled his eyes and picked up the wireless phone.

"Call her."

"What? No! Put it down!"

"Alright. You left me no choice."

Zack starting dialing the number but Cody grabbed the phone out of his hands.

"I shouldn't have told you! You can never be trusted, I swear!" he said, placing the phone back to its cradle. "There's no point in telling her. We're leaving in a few days and I'm not going to see her again."

Zack placed a palm on his shoulder. "Are you letting the distance interfere with your love?"

Cody looked down. Seconds later, he lifted his head up and replied. "Yeah!" 

Zack scowled at him for a second and he shrugged. "Okay. That's your decision. Let me know if you're ready, I'm willing to help." he said and went out of the room, while Cody continued arranging his trophies, shaking his head.

**XxX**

**The next day.**

Maddie arrived at the Tipton when she noticed some employees whispering in one corner, including Esteban. She wondered what was going on, but she just shrugged it off and passed them by.

When she reached her counter, Esteban came up to her.

"Hey Maddie. Is it true--"

"No." she replied in total sureness

"How do you know, I haven't even finished my sentence!"

"Usually, rumors aren't true, especially if it's from the Tipton employees. So, no, it's not true."

Esteban raised his palms. "Alright, I'm just asking cos it looks real and you really look like you're going out with him."

Maddie let out a light chuckle. "Oh, you mean Trevor? We're just friends, nothing more than that."

"Not Trevor." He retorted. "I'm referring to Zack, your 'rumored' boyfriend."

Looking utterly stupefied, she exclaimed, "What?!"

Esteban was a little taken aback by her reaction, but he continued anyway. "Well, that's pretty much the rumor around here. Everyone's talking about it. She told us that something happened in your house while Zack stayed there and after that, you acted differently. She even showed us some pictures!"

"Pictures?" she muttered with a scowl. "That's ridiculous! Who made that up?" London suddenly walked in the lobby and Esteban pointed at her. "She did."

Maddie gazed in the direction he was pointing to and shook her head. "I knew it."

She walked up to her and dragged her in the hallway. "London, what were you thinking?"

Looking suprised, she replied, "What did I do?"

"Oh, don't act as if you have no idea! You just told everyone that I'm going out with Zack! What is wrong with you?!" she asked, placing her hands on her waist

London smirked and replied, "Maddie, I may be dumb, but I'm not blind. You are stealing glances with each other all the time."

"No, we're not! That is nonsense!" Maddie exclaimed

London rolled her eyes. "Please! I even have pictures in my cell phone!" she replied, waving her cellphone. Maddie grabbed it and looked at the pictures she was talking about. Unknown to her, London snapped some pictures of her yesterday when she was displaying the look of jealousy and disapproval when Zack held Jessica's hand while walking out. There were also pictures where she and Zack glanced at each other.

Maddie gasped in horror.

"Are you spying on us?"

London grabbed her cell phone from Maddie's hand. "No!"

Maddie narrowed her eyes at her.

"Okay yes!"

"Why?"

"Because I feel like you're liking him already! " She said innocently. "And you know what, I realized you're such a liar!"

She gasped and glared at her.

"Did you just call me a liar?"

"You keep on denying about your feelings, but this," she said, waving her cell phone, "will prove you're such a big fat liar."

Maddie narrowed her eyes at her and tried to grabbed London's cell phone

"Give me that!"

"No!" London quickly hid the cell phone

"I said give me that!" Maddie said, trying to snatch the cell phone from her.

London ran towards Moseby and hid behind him.

"Moseby, tell Maddie to stop chasing over my cell phone just because she couldn't buy a new one!" she said, peeking on his side.

Maddie's jaw dropped and shook her head.

"Maddie, what are you doing? This is not playtime! Get back to your work!" Moseby ordered

She shot London a sharp look before going back to the counter. London quickly walked up to her and apologized. "I'm sorry I called you a liar." she humbly said.

Maddie glanced at her, and felt the sincerity in her voice. "I'm sorry I overreacted."

"Why don't you just admit that you like him already?" London asked

Maddie was about to reply when Zack came out of the elevator and spotted them.

"You look gorgeous!" he exclaimed.

"Thanks!" London and Maddie exclaimed at the same time. Maddie gasped and scowled at London while the latter just smiled at her.

_Be nice to her, Zack. Remember, be nice, or you're not gonna get Maddie!_

"Oh, I was talking about London..." he lied. "…although you don't look bad in your uniform!"

"I know! That's why I don't wear one! It's hideous!" London looked at the watch. "Ok, I'll see you two later!"

"Wait!" Zack called. "Can you come to my suite really quick?"

"Why?" she asked.

"Err…" he paused to think of an excuse, "I want to show you something."

London and Maddie exchanged glances, both had the confused look.

"Okay, but we have to be really quick!"

He shrugged and replied, "Sure!"

Maddie's gaze followed them as they entered the elevator, her jealousy started to kick in.

"_Get a grip, Maddie!"_ she ordered herself. _"So he finds London gorgeous and he wants to show her something. Big deal. Stop overreacting over silly things and concentrate on your job!"  
_

She sighed and arranged the candy bars.

**XxX**

Cody was just coming out of the bathroom, his towel wrapped in his waist and the water beads dripping from his hair when the door suddenly flung open.

He was in total shock when he heard the familiar voice behind the door. "Make it quick. I have a shopping to do!"

He almost died when London and Zack came in. "He's in the—oh there he is!" Zack stifled a giggle when he saw him half naked while London gasped and covered her eyes with one hand. "Is that what you want to show me?" she said, with a tone of disgust.

Zack took her hand off from her eyes and added, "Don't worry, he's safe to look at."

Cody gave him a warning look followed by a glare. "Anyway, he wants to tell you something!" Zack replied with a grin on his face.

London turned to Cody. "What is it?"

It took him a couple of seconds before he managed to speak. "I-I have nothing to say! I don't know what he's talking about!" he said as he narrowed his eyes at his brother. _You are so dead, Zack._

London shrugged. "Okay, so I have no business here. Bye!" London turned around but Zack grabbed her by the elbow. "Not so fast, miss Tipton." He gazed at Cody. "Cody, I believe YOU have something to tell her." He said as he pointed his head towards London.

"I want to tell you that…." He swallowed hard… "I… I love… that dress on you!" Zack scowled at him and mouthed "What?"

London briefly looked at her dress. "Thanks! I love it on myself too!" she said with a nod. "See you later!" she said and turned around to walk out.

Cody walked to the door and shut it. "Zack, why did you do that? You almost gave me a heart attack!" he said angrily.

"I'm just trying to help!" he replied.

"Well, in that case, thank you for helping me look like an idiot in front of her!" he said, walking inside of their bedroom.

"Why are you so scared of telling her?"

"I'm not scared, I'm just not ready! I'll tell her in time, and I want you to stay out of it!"

He rolled his eyes."I'm sorry!" he paused, "Oh, I have to talk to Maddie!" and headed out of the suite.

Cody just shook his head and got dressed.

**XxX**

Zack saw London and Maddie talking in the candy counter as he stepped out of the elevator.

"Don't you want to go shopping? I'll pay you a hundred if you'll carry my bags!" London asked.

She gave her a stupid look. "We have a volleyball practice this afternoon, remember?"

London bit her lower lip. "Oh, is that today? I'm sorry, I can't make it! The new Prada boots is out and I really want to have it! And besides, I'm a star player! I don't need to practice! Tootles!" she said and walked away.

Maddie just rolled her eyes.

"Wait!" Zack called and London turned around. "Can I go with you? I'll carry your shopping bags!"

"Trust me Zack, you don't wanna do that!" Maddie interrupted. "I should know. I do that all the time!"

Zack was about to say something when London spoke. "You know what, that's a good idea! Let's go!" she said, and walked away.

Zack followed her and gave Maddie a quick glance before heading out. She immediately looked away and cheerfully greeted a customer. Inside she was feeling a little upset.

_Fine. So now you're hitting on London. Very well. You two are perfect for each other!_

She glanced at her wristwatch and put the "closed" sign on the counter. She grabbed her bag and ready to leave when Cody came out of the elevator. He walked towards her and noticed that she's frowning.

"What's wrong Maddie?" he asked.

Maddie shook her head. "I don't know. Zack is acting different."

"What do you mean?"

She sighed. "All of a sudden, he and London became close and…I think he likes her." she bit her lower lip, " NOT that I'm jealous or anything!" she said, shaking her head

"Trust me, he doesn't like London." Cody replied

"Really? Cause he just offered to carry her shopping bags awhile ago."

Cody scowled. "Oh no, he didn't"

"Yes, he did." She replied. "Alright. I have to go. See you later!" she said and headed towards the door.

Cody shook his head. "_What is he up to again?"_ he asked himself.

**XxX**

That evening, Maddie was back at the Tipton from her practice to finish her remaining hour shift.. There were no customers yet so she decided to read a magazine.

Meanwhile, Zack and Cody came out of the elevator. Cody sat in the lobby couch with a thick book in his arm while Zack went straight to the counter.

"Hey sweet thang. How was your day?" he said, propping his elbow on the counter

Maddie looked up. "Not bad." She said and went back to reading magazine. "What about you?"

Zack sighed. "My day pretty much sucked. I really shouldn't have offered to carry her shopping bags. I almost died! She almost wiped out the mall! We even got mobbed..."

Maddie looked up to him.

Unknown to Zack, she was starting to form a little fantasy in her mind.

* * *

_What if Zack and I are actually together? What if age our difference wasn't an issue and we're actually in love? What would my day be like?_

_He'll probably pick me up from school and from there we'll walk together all the way to the Tipton._

_And when I arrive at my counter, there's gonna be a flower waiting for me that says, "Roses sent from my heart, Roses sent with love. Roses for my valentine, My angel whom I love. __Forever yours, Zack."_

_I'll hug him and tell him how sweet he is.  
_

_Then he'll try to kiss me, but I'll tell him to lay off because there are guests in the lobby.  
_

_He'll scratch his head._

_He'll laugh._

_I'll laugh._

_He'll beg once again. I'll reject him once again._

_He'll give up and give me a light peck on the cheek instead._

_And we'll say "I love you honey" before going separate ways.  
_

* * *

"Maddie, are you listening?" 

"Yes honey!" she paused for a moment and mentally slapped herself. "I mean Zack."

He stared in bewilderment. "What did you call me?"

She played innocent. "Zack. I called you Zack."

"No. You called me honey!" He turned to Cody, "Cody, you heard that, didn't you?" He faced Maddie and pointed at Cody, "He heard it!"

When she couldn't think of any excuse, she just gave up. "Fine. I called you that. Big deal. It's just a Freudian slip."

Zack gave her a stupid look. "Freu—what?"

"It's an expression, Zack. It means slip of the tongue!" Cody retorted

"Whatever that is, you still called me honey!" he said, forming a smirk in his face.

"What's so... surprising about that? I call my brother 'honey', when he's not being a booger of course." she said. "Even your mom calls you honey!"

"My mom calls me that in a motherly-way. If it comes from you, it's a different story."

"Zack," Cody butts in, closing his book. "Every English-speaking nation uses the word honey even to complete strangers. It doesn't mean anything!"

"H-he's right!" Maddie agreed hesitantly.

"But you never called me that!" Zack replied defensively. "I mean, you used to call me doofus, obnoxious, goof…" he paused, "but 'honey'?"

Maddie randomly picked one bar of chocolate. "Did you know that chocolate is made from the fermented, roasted, and ground beans taken from the pod of the tropical cacao tree?" she said with a broad grin.

Zack cocked his eyebrow. "Changing the subject?"

She glanced at Cody and he just gave him a shrug.

"You know what, it's... it's not a big deal!"

"If it isn't, why are you fumbling and you seemed tensed?" Zack asked

"That's because I've been standing here for an hour, straight from practice, and my mind is kind of tired. Actually, make that super tired." she said, sighing

Zack tilted his head to the left. "Are you sure that's the only reason?"

Maddie scoffed. "Zack? What else could the reason be? If you think that I'm daydreaming about us being a couple, then you're WRONG!" she said and turned her back. It was too late when she realize what she just said.

_I'm doomed! I'm doomed, I'm doomed, I'm doomed!__  
_

She pretended to arrange the candy bars and acted as normal as she can.

"What were you saying awhile ago, Zack? I mean, before this whole 'honey' issue." She said, still facing the wall.

"Forget it, I was just babbling about how my day went." he replied. "What about you? What were you thinking when I was talking?"

"I was listening, silly."

"Yeah? What did I say?" he challenged her

Moseby suddenly interrupted them. "Zack, is your mom upstairs?"

"Yeah." he replied.

"Good!" Moseby said and he turned to Maddie. "You can go home, Madeline. It's pretty slow tonight, so go ahead and rest." He walked away and pressed the elevator button.

Maddie smiled mockingly at him. "Bye Zack!" she said, putting the closed the sign on the counter. She grabbed her bag and said goodbye to Cody.

"That is not fair, Cody." he said as his gaze followed Maddie on the way out. "Something is up with Maddie..."

**XxX**

Moseby knocked at the Martins' suite.

"Carey it's Moseby."

"Come in, its open!" Carey said.

Moseby pushed the door open and found Carey checking out the oven. "Carey, I just want to inform you that the staff is organizing a farewell party for you. It'll be tomorrow night at the Banquet."

Carey stood straight and faced him. "Oh, you shouldn't have, but thank you." she replied with a smile.

"No problem." He said. "Carey, I want you to know that eventhough your hooligans annoy me, you brought good business here at the Tipton." he said matter-of-factly. "You know how to capture the audiences, and you even gained followers already."

Carey smiled.

"I'm sorry." Moseby said sincerely.

Carey shook her head. "It's not your fault Moseby. My contract is finished, and that's the way it is."

Moseby nodded briefly. "I'll see you at the party." he said and headed out.

* * *

_A/N: Yup. Cody likes London! You guys are good!:)_

_I was supposed to post this chapter last Christmas but I didn't even get the chance to check my email! I've been insanely busy and... and... I'll stop before you hate me. lol_

_Anyway, here's another long chapter. I hope you liked it:) Actually, I'm slightly embarrassed to post this chapter, but I still hope you liked it. :)  
_

_Many, many, many thanks for all your support!  
_

**_Lennie1984, char, Rongo, HELENz, ceps, Sharpay, Hayden, Ghostwriter626, actingalexis13, GonnabeFamous94, Chel08, limegreengurl95_**

_Have a "suite" new year to you all! I hope you're all having a great holiday season:)_

_PS. I'm too tired to re-read this chapter so I apologize for the mistakes. I'll try to edit as soon as I can. :)  
_


	18. Holding back

Next Morning.

Zack emerged from the elevator, looking around. Maddie smiled upon seeing him. _You're not supposed to get this excited, Maddie! It's only Zack! _

"Hey babe, have you seen London?" Zack wanted to know the "progress" of their plan.

Her smile disappeared when she heard London's name.

"The last time I checked, I'm a candy counter girl, not an heiress tracker!" she replied irritably

He was quite surprised with her response.

"Oooh… Someone forgot to take her happy pill this morning…" he said, teasing her.

A little boy approached and asked for two candy bars. "Watch out," Zack warned, "she's a little cranky today."

The boy looked from Zack to Maddie and quickly walked away after paying for the candy bars. Maddie just gave him an odd look.

"What are you still doing here? Go find London!" she said, sulkily.

His mouth creased into a broad grin. "You're not jealous, are you?"

She let out a tasteless laugh. "Jealous? Of you? Please! Who do you think you are?" she replied defensively.

"Who do I think I am…" he said, "I think I'm the cutest guy ever lived in this hotel. That's what I think. So you should really be jealous, cos you can lose me any minute."

"Really? How 'bout any second…" she said, eyeing someone in the lobby. Zack turned around to see who it was.

"Hey Trevor!" Maddie greeted. "What are you doing here?"

Trevor reached the counter, totally ignoring Zack, who was fuming at the time.

"I'm here to visit you and maybe get a few candy bars!"

Maddie laughed while Zack stormed off unnoticed.

"So do you have any plans tonight?" Maddie asked.

"N-no. Why?"

"Can we… go out for a dinner tonight?" she hesitantly asked

Maddie thought it will be easier to forget her feelings for Zack if she'll spend more time with Trevor. She's determined to get rid of him. To her, it's wrong and stupid to feel something for him.

Trevor blinked at her, not expecting her invitation. "Y-yeah! Certainly!"

"So… how about we'll meet here at 7:30 tonight?"

Trevor nodded. "Sounds good!"

"Great."

"Alright, I guess I'll see you later!" Trevor turned and walked away.

**--------------**

Zack knocked harshly on London's suite

"Coming!" London yelled. She opened the door and Zack walked straight inside, looking furious.

"What on earth is wrong with you? You almost broke down my door!" she said, closing the door.

He spun around with rage on his eyes.

"That Trevor is seriously getting in my nerves! He's visiting Maddie again! Will you tell your guy to stop stealing Maddie from me?" he said, placing his palm over his chest.

"Trevor's in the lobby?" London gasped. "Omigosh, I gotta go see him!" she immediately went out, leaving Zack with a dumbfounded look. He then threw his hands in the air and yelled "Great! Just exactly what I need!"

He decided to leave the room and go back to his suite. He used the stairs till he reached the second floor before using the elevator; He couldn't stand the sight of Maddie and Trevor, all smiles with each other.

**--------------**

Zack went straight inside the suite and flopped lazily on the couch.

"What's wrong with you?" Carey asked

"That's what I've been asking myself too." He said and sat up straight, facing his mom. "Really, what is wrong with me? In the past two years, I think I transformed myself into someone she'll like; I improved my grades, I got taller, not to mention I got cuter. I tried eating vegetables, my vocabulary is extensive, heck I even planted a dang tree in my science class for extra credit! Why can't she love me?"

"She actually told me that she loves…" Carey was able to stop herself before slipping.

"Loves?" Zack asked

"Loves… the fact that you are… friends!" she managed. "But I think she's not comfortable with the age gap, honey."

"To heck with age gap!" He blurted. "I'm so sick of that excuse! Why can't she see through it? Why can't she see the man that will love her for the rest of her life instead of a 13-year-old boy who has little crush on her?"

Seeing his son upset, she's almost tempted to tell him what Maddie told her just to make him happy. But Maddie's plea popped in her head. _Please don't tell anyone about it, especially Zack._

"I'm sorry honey, I made a promise. I can't help you."

"What promise?"

"A promise that…" she glanced at the empty pancake syrup and thought of an excuse, "I will go to the grocery today!"

"Grocery? We're leaving tomorrow! What's the use of doing the grocery?"

Carey was cornered but she was quick to think of an excuse, "What, can't I at least have pancakes?"

Carey headed out and a few moments later, she came back with Maddie.

"She's going to baby sit."

Zack's face lightened up a little bit upon seeing her.

"Mom, aren't we too old for babysit?" Cody asked

Zack gave him a warning look. "We're not."

Carey turned to Maddie. "Just make sure Zack's not going to run away. You know, like he did the last time that got you in trouble…" she said, glancing at Zack.

"Yes Carey. " Maddie replied. "Can I ask you something really quick? It's kind of… private."

Carey glared at her and replied, "Sure."

They went outside the hallway and shut the door.

"What is it, Maddie?" Carey asked with a concerned look

Maddie hesitated first before speaking. "Did you tell anyone what we talked about yesterday?"

"No, why?"

Maddie shrugged. "London insists that I have feelings for Zack and she even told everyone that I'm dating him! She snapped some pictures of me looking 'jealous'…" she complained and paused, "Am I that obvious?"

Carey gave her a wry smile. "Honestly, Maddie, you are."

Maddie turned to face her. "I-I am?" she asked in disbelief

"London actually showed me those pictures in her phone. And you can't deny that jealous look in your eyes." she said, smiling.

"Oh." she looked down and blushed. "I didn't realize that I was being showy. Now I feel totally disgusted about myself!" She replied. "You know, it's funny, because I'm not usually a jealous person! I mean, Zack flirts with pretty much every girl that comes his way, but yesterday, I felt genuinely… jealous and I don't know why."

"Of course you do." Carey retorted. "Maddie, face it. You love him. You love my son." she insisted.

"Carey…" she heaved a deep sigh before replying, "I can't love him. It's wrong. It's immoral. It's sick. It's disgusting. It's—"

"Inevitable." Carey interrupted and made her way towards the elevator, leaving Maddie confused.

Maddie went back inside the suite and sat on the dining table. She took out the books from her bag, laid it on the table and started writing something.

"What was that about Maddie?" Zack asked

"None of your business." she replied without looking up.

Zack walked up to Maddie and leaned his arms on the back of her chair.

"Watchu doin?" he asked, trying to read her stuff.

"My homework?" she said, writing stuff on her notebook

Zack half-heartedly chuckled. "Homework? Why are you doing homework on a Saturday night?" he walked back to the couch and sat. "You ever consider watching a romantic film with me?" he said, waving a DVD

Maddie stopped writing for a second and glared at him. "Ever consider breaking a neck for disturbing me?"

"Sorry." he said and just flipped the channels. "You're lucky I like you so much." He mumbled.

"What did you say?" she asked

"Nothing." he replied flatly. "I'm leaving tomorrow, can't you at least be nice to me for once?"

_Tomorrow? _She thought.

She didn't realize that they're leaving tomorrow, because she was too busy thinking of ways on how to get rid of her feelings for him. It just brought her extreme sadness and guilt.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Maddie was about to stand up when Zack approached the door. "I got it." He opened the door and got a little surprised.

"Hi Zack!" greeted Jessica, in a floral dress and braided hair. "Hey Cody!"

"H-hi!" Zack greeted. Cody smiled at her. "Hey Jessica!"

"Candy girl?"

"Hi!" she greeted her with a broad smile. _I'm not going to be jealous, I'm not going to be jealous, I'm not going to be jealous… _she chanted in her mind. "What's up Jessica?"

"I'm just visiting my boyfriend…" she replied, looking at Zack

Zack raised his palms, as if shielding himself from her. "Whoa, whoa, whoa there, girly! You're not my girlfriend!" He turned to Maddie, "Maddie, d-don't get mad. I can explain this! She's not my girlfriend, believe me! I'm not cheating on you!"

Cody rolled his eyes.

Maddie gave him a strange look while Jessica scowled. "Huh?" she said.

"I mean… we went out a few times, but it doesn't mean we're…. uh…" Zack turned to Cody, "Cody, help me!"

"Basically, what he's trying to say is that he wants you to butt out of his life!"

Jessica gasped. "I hate you!" and ran away. Zack gave Cody a sharp look, "Thanks for your help!"

"My pleasure." Cody replied.

Maddie put her pen down and looked up to him. "Zack, I really don't appreciate that you're using me to break a girl's heart. You should apologize to her. Now." she ordered.

"Oh, so you mean its okay if you're the one hurting me, but if I hurt someone else, I should apologize?"

Maddie thought about it for a second and realized that he was right.

"Just do it!"

Zack raised his palm. "Fine!" and headed outside.

Zack followed Jessica all the way in the lobby. He found her standing in the middle of the lobby, facing away from him.

"Look, I'm sorry. I'm a jerk for treating you like that." Jessica didn't reply so he continued. "I think you're really pretty and smart, but… I… I love her."

She turned around and replied. "Candy girl?" she asked with a little bit of tears.

Zack nodded. "B-but you would've been my second choice!"

"She's very lucky." She replied softly.

Zack just smiled. "So… we can still be friends, right?"

Jessica formed a smile. "Of course, silly!"

He handed her a Kleenex from Moseby's desk

"Here."

Jessica smiled. "Thank you."

"Uh Jessica…. Can you come to our farewell party tonight? Bring your sister with you."

Jessica nodded. "Sure. We'll be there." She replied and headed out.

**--------------**

**That evening.**

It was the night of the farewell party, and the Martins were getting ready.

"It was so nice of Moseby to prepare this party for us." Carey said, putting her earrings. She was wearing a long purple gown and she was requested to sing a song tonight.

"He was just too excited to get us out of here." Cody replied, deciding which shirt he's gonna wear.

Zack emerged from the bedroom, wearing a black long sleeve shirt and cargo pants. "I will surely miss Moseby's outbursts in the morning!" He said, chuckling.

"Alright boys, are you all set?" Carey asked and grabbed her little purse. Facing her twins, she added, "This is our last night and we should make this memorable, but not in a disastrous way, okay?"

The boys glanced at each other and smiled. They all headed out towards the door. They went straight in the banquet where the party is being held, and all of them were awed with the preparation. There was a big banner that says "Bon Voyage!" There were also balloons in every corner of the room.

As soon as they entered the room, they were greeted by the Tipton employees. The place was quite crowded, but there was only one person Zack wanted to see, and it didn't take long for him to spot her.

Maddie was talking to other employees while arranging the flowers at the table. She looked incredibly pretty in a black knee-length dress and her long hair is tied over her left shoulder.

"Wow." He whispered to himself as they approached her.

Carey greeted her. "Hi Maddie!"

Maddie turned around. "Hi!" she greeted and smiled.

"You look very pretty tonight! Look at you!" Carey complemented

Maddie blushed and laughed. "Thanks to London's make up and dress."

Maddie glanced to Cody, "Hey Cody!", and turned to Zack. _And there's the ultimate distraction,_ she thought.

"Uh, Carey I'll see you later!" Maddie said.

"Where are you going?" Zack asked

"I'm going to a dinner with Trevor."

"But tonight's our farewell party!"

"I'll be back later. I'm really looking forward to this dinner!"

He felt like his heart was stabbed but he didn't let it show.

"Oh. Well have fun!"

"Thanks!" she said and turned around to walk away.

"Wait, can I walk you there? I want to make sure you'll get there safe, you know." He said following her.

She stopped and turned to him. "Zack, it's just the restaurant in the first floor, not in a dark alley."

"Well you'll never know. Perverts are everywhere." Zack said, nodding.

"Alright, alright." She rolled her eyes and continued walking.

**--------------**

They reached the Tipton restaurant, and they easily spotted Trevor in one corner. Maddie walked to the table, kissed Trevor on the cheek and sat across him.

Zack just stood up next to their table and didn't move.

"Um Zack, thank you, I can take it from here." Maddie said, and glanced at Trevor.

"Yeah... Yeah... Sure. Enjoy your dinner with the constipated guy." Zack replied, mocking him

"I am not constipa—"

"Shut your merit scholar mouth." Zack interrupted, extending his index finger.

Trevor pressed his lips for a second before replying. "I can see why you're mad at me. I know you love her, but don't worry, we're not together."

"Of course. You are not two-timing me, are you sweet thang?" Zack turned to her.

Maddie sighed. "Excuse us, Trevor."

Maddie gently led Zack in one corner.

"Zack…" she said, thinking carefully of what she's gonna say. "I just want us to be friends; I thought I made it clear to you already."

"And I also thought I made it clear to you that I don't want us to be just friends."

"Zack, really… I just want us to be friends. Just good friends. Or even best friends, if you want. Nothing more than that. I don't know how to make this any clearer, but I don't see us being more than friends. I know you understand, Zack."

His chin dropped to his chest for a moment, she thought he was crying, but when he lifted it again, he looked calm. "What exactly do you want me to do?"

"You can start by not calling me 'sweet thang'. Stop flirting with me. Stop telling me all the sweet nothings. Stop staring at me when I'm talking. Stop…."

"…breathing?" Zack interrupted. "Look, Maddie, why don't you just kill me, I bet it's less painful than pretending that I don't love you!"

Looking upset, Zack turned and walked away, leaving Maddie overwhelming with guilt. She pressed her eyes tightly shut and sighed. She'll explain everything to him later. In the meantime, she went back to her table and realized that she lost her appetite already.

The farewell party is going to start in a few minutes.

* * *

_A/N: The Martins are leaving the Tipton. Yeah!!! Finally. LOL.  
_

_I hope you guys will stick around till the end. I know it's slow paced and boring but I promise to make the next chapters better! Its going to end soon, can you guess the ending? I think you can, you guys are "smarticals!" lol_

_Thank you and happy new year!  
_

_**actingalexis13, Lennie1984, Ghostwriter626, MaseyIsLove, Lachopedreams, Hayden, Sharpay, Rongo, ceps, HELENz **_

_**  
**I love all of you:) Thanks for the reviews! The start of the year wasn't really good for me, but your reviews made me smile... so thank you:)_

_Sorry again for the mistakes, I'll edit them as soon as I can. :) _


	19. The party

Maddie had always rejected him, but this time she believed she went overboard. She got him upset. She broke his heart. This was worse than the prom night incident; Worse, because she was already halfway in love with him. And she hated it. She hated the feeling that's growing in her heart.

She went back to her seat as casual as she can.

"Maddie, are you okay?"

Trevor noticed that she was in deep thought.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Don't worry about me." she said, forcing herself to smile.

A waiter approached shortly after. "Good evening. What can I get you?"

**----------------**

Everyone was having conversation in small groups while Cody was seated in one of the tables all by himself. He looked around and noticed that London isn't there. He stood up and walked over to Moseby.

"Mr. Moseby, is… uh… London coming?" he asked casually

Moseby turned around and look at him. "Yes."

"Where is she?" he asked, trying not to sound too curious

"I don't know. I've been calling her cell phone but she's not picking up." he said and walked to other tables.

He mouthed "oh" and stepped out of the room discreetly to look for her. He searched through the corridors, hoping that he would bump into her.

"_Where are you, princess?"_ he whispered to himself.

On his way to London's suite, he found someone sitting in lazily in the hallway, his head leaned far back against the wall.

"Zack?"

**----------------**

Trevor scanned the menu for a minute. Suddenly he spotted one and put the menu down. "I'll have spaghetti and meatballs. What about you?" he said, looking at Maddie.

Maddie's chin was rested on her hand, her eyes fixed at the menu.

"I'll have the same." She replied faintly.

When the waiter left, Trevor moved closer to her. "Are you sure you're alright?"

She shook her head. "I hurt his feelings." she replied without looking at him.

He gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"Zack is special to me, but sometimes" she continued, ignoring Trevor's question, "just sometimes… I feel like I'm doing the most stupid decision of pushing him away." She confessed.

He didn't quite get she meant, but there's one question in his mind. "Maddie, I'm sorry, I can't help but ask… Do you feel something for him?"

She didn't reply. She wasn't comfortable answering the question. She was still trying to fight the idea of loving him.

Trevor looked down for a second and faced her, "I've seen the pictures."

"What pictures?" she asked. "Oh you don't mean those…"

"London sent those to my phone, and I don't know why."

_Ugh! She just won't shut up about it!_ She thought

"It's not what you think, Trevor."

"Maddie, it's okay. I can assure you that I don't think that way about you. If you really feel something for him, he deserves to know. Love is meant to be shared; it won't do anyone good if you'll just keep it to yourself."

"But… what if it's wrong?"

"Its only wrong if you won't let him know."

"Trevor—"

"Go ahead and talk to him. I don't want to keep you here when your mind is preoccupied with someone else."

She felt a little guilty.

"I'm sorry I ruined this dinner."

"No, I'm sorry. If I didn't come here in the first place, you wouldn't fight. Now go ahead, I'm okay."

Maddie placed her hand on top of his. "Thanks Trevor."

Maddie smiled and left.

Trevor's gaze followed her till she disappeared and smiled in contentment.

**----------------**

Zack looked up when he heard his name and lowered his head. Cody walked up to him and sat beside him. "What happened to you? I thought you walked her to the restaurant but you never came back."

"Leave me alone. I don't want to discuss it."

"Whoa… I'm just asking!"

"What do you want?" he said, letting out an exasperated sigh.

"I want to know why you're sitting here alone and not partying with us." He replied calmly

"I am not going back to that lame party. In fact, I think I'll just go back to the suite!" with that, he stood up but Cody was quick to pull him down by his arm.

"You can't!" Cody ordered so Zack sat down again. "Is this about Maddie again?"

He didn't reply.

"It's okay Zack. We'll get over this unrequited love eventually."

"At least London's not asking you to stop loving her."

"What do you mean?"

"I should have kept my feelings secret so she won't stop me from loving her." He replied, ignoring the question

Cody shook his head and tapped him in the back.

"Why don't you go back in the banquet and try to have some fun? I invited Darlene, Barbara and a bunch of others over, they should be on their way. Don't spend the night here, its pretty lonely and don't expect me to stay with you."

Zack took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and opened it up. "Alright." Zack stood up "Let's go but I can't promise I'll enjoy."

"No, you go ahead. I have to look for someone."

Zack rolled his eyes and walked in the opposite direction while Cody continued looking for London.

**----------------**

Back to her suite, London was checking herself out in front of her mirror when suddenly someone knocked on the door. "Who's that?" she asked.

Cody turned the knob and let himself in. They stared at each other for a minute.

"Hi!" he greeted nervously as he managed to smile.

"Cody? What are you doing here?"

"Uh… um… A-are you coming to the farewell party?" he threw the question back.

"Yes! I'm just doing little touches on my hair." London stared at his hair. "Speaking of which, who styled your hair?"

"I did?" He replied in confusion.

London wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "It looks messy. Can I fix it?"

Although surprised, he replied. "Be my guest!"

London poured a little amount of hair gel on her palm, rubbed it together and applied it on his hair, "Your hair covers your cute face, and it's not good." She slicked it back just a little, letting a few strands drop on his face. "So why are you here again, Cody?"

He couldn't tell her that he wanted to see her, so he thought of a perfect excuse. "I need your help. I think Zack and Maddie had a huge fight."

"Really? Why?" she said while styling his hair.

"I don't know, but we should do something about it! We can't let them fight the entire night."

"I have a plan…" she gave Cody a wink. "But first, I need to know where Maddie is."

"I think she's having a dinner with Trevor right now."

London gasped. "Oooh… So the pictures I sent didn't work?!"

"What pictures?"

"Oh, you haven't seen it?"

"I don't think so!"

"Let me show you." She grabbed her cellphone and handed it to him. "Those are Zack and Maddie's pictures when I spied on them. Look how upset Maddie was!"

He was completely surprised, cos he was there and he didn't notice.

"W-what's this for? Why did you take these pictures?"

"Zack asked for my help, and besides, I wanted to prove that she's been lying with her feelings for Zack so I did this and showed it to Trevor."

"But Zack never told me about this." He said, still browsing at the pictures

"Oh, he has no idea about the pictures. I haven't shown him yet."

Cody gave him a weary look. "You really think Maddie has feelings for Zack?"

"I'm a girl, I know this stuff. Maddie's just denying it. Unfortunately, she's not a very good liar!"

London finished working on his hair. She looked at him and smiled.

"There. I didn't realize how hot you actually are! You should keep that hairstyle."

No one really called him hot before. They would occasionally refer to him as "cute", but not hot.

"Really?"

"Uh-huh!" she affirmed and entered her closet.

He let out a romantic sigh. "I love you, London!"

He mentally slapped himself for slipping and he realized it was too late to take it back.

"What?"

His heart was pounding so fast, he felt like it was about to explode.

London glared at him and smiled. "Doesn't everyone?"

"Y-yeah. You got a point there." He flatly replied. _But they love you for the wrong reasons, _he thought.Unfortunately, he didn't have the courage to voice it out.

**----------------**

Zack entered the banquet and Carey came up to him.

"Zack, where have you been? And where's your brother?" Carey asked

"I don't know. He's just somewhere." He said, pulling a chair and flopped down on it.

Few moments later, he spotted Maddie standing at the door. _"What's she doing here?" _he thought. He secretly felt happy to see her back, whatever her reason was.

"Maddie! You're back! I thought you have a dinner with Trevor?" Carey asked

Maddie whispered something to her. Carey glanced at Zack and nodded at her. She walked to Zack's table and sat on the chair next to him.

"Hey Zack."

Zack didn't reply nor look at her. He was just tapping the table to the beat of the music.

"I'm sorry for everything I said. I didn't mean them."

She still got no response from him.

"Zack, talk to me!"

No matter what she said, she didn't get any response from him.

She finally gave up. "Okay. I'll leave you alone in a while." She left and helped with the food.

**----------------**

Cody and London entered the room together with their arms linked. Carey and Moseby walked up to them.

"London, thanks for stopping by!" Carey said

"Of course! Why would I miss this party?"

"Nice hair Cody!" Moseby commented. Cody smiled and glanced at London.

London and Cody walked to Zack's table. "Are you still upset?"

"You think?" he retorted, his chin rested on his palm.

"Hey, aren't you going to ask about our plan?" London asked.

"I don't care anymore about our plan. Maddie's right. I need to stop."

"Don't you want to see the pictures? I think you'll be interested to see it!"

"No thanks, I'm not interested in anything right now."

London had the worried look on her face and immediately looked for Maddie.

Moments later, the British twins arrived with Darlene, Barbara, Agnes and Bob.

"Hey guys! Over here!" Cody called and waved at them!

They all walked to their table and grabbed their own chairs. "What, you're leaving us?!" Bob asked, glancing at them.

"I know! All of a sudden, we're losing our editor-in-chief and star basketball player!" Barbara added

Agnes sat next to Zack. "Hey Zacky, what's up?" She greeted.

Zack just gave a little smile that quickly disappeared.

Cody answered for him. "He's having a bad night, guys. He was—"

"Cody." He shot him a warning look. "Sorry guys, it's just something I don't want to talk about." He pushed back from the chair and stood up. "I'll be right back!"

They all looked at each other.

"What happened to your brother?" Darlene curiously asked.

"Is he alright, Cody?" Janice added

Cody shot a glance at his brother before replying, "I don't know what really happened to him, but he's going to be alright, don't worry."

----------------

Zack avoided her like plague all night. Whenever they cross paths, he would immediately go to a different route and ignore her.

"Is it just me or the blonde person is avoiding you?" Esteban asked Maddie while she was refilling the drinks.

"He's mad at me." She said, frowning.

"Don't worry. It's normal, especially for new relationships."

"For the last time, we're not a couple, Esteban!" she retorted

Few moments later, London walked up to her. "Hey Maddie!" she greeted.

"Hey yourself." Maddie greeted back.

"I heard you and Zack had a big fight."

Maddie nodded. "Yeah. I think he hates me now."

London shook her head. "I'm sure it's your fault. You should say sorry."

"I already tried to apologize but he wouldn't talk to me!"

"Why don't you try again?" London suggested.

"Okay, I will. This should work!" Maddie turned on her heel and walked towards Zack.

She took a deep breath before speaking. "Zack, this isn't working for me."

Zack didn't respond as if he didn't hear anything so when Cody passed by, she stopped him. "Cody, tell your brother it isn't working for me."

"Maddie said it isn't working for her."

"What's not working for her?"

Cody turned to her. "What's not working for you, Maddie?"

"This whole silent treatment thing! This is terrible, he's avoiding me all night!"

Cody turned to him.

"What Cody?" Zack asked

He gave him a stupid look. "You heard what she said."

"Heard what? I didn't hear anything." he replied innocently.

"Oh for goodness' sake, why don't you two talk, I'm not your messenger!" he said and walked away.

"I am not in the mood for talking."

He went back to his table with his friends. When he reached the table, Darlene thought it best to cheer him up. "Um… Zack, I know you're having a bad night but… do you want to go for a walk?"

Maddie passed by and overheard them.

"No!" she said defensively. Both of them looked at her in confusion, especially Zack.

She turned red when she realized what she had done.

"I mean, no, as in, you can't walk with an empty stomach!" she replied stammering. "Why don't you grab a bite first, there are plenty of food in here! Help yourselves!"

She walked away, completely embarrassed. It couldn't have been anymore obvious. _This jealousy is really going overboard. It's got to stop! _

He held Darlene's hand as they headed towards the exit.

Maddie was gazing at them as they walk out. London took out her cellphone and aimed it to her. "No pictures, please." Maddie said. "I am not jealous. I just feel bad for us."

London shrugged and walked up to Cody. She whispered something to him and he nodded in agreement.

------------------------------

"Zack, what's the problem? You know I'm your friend right? Come on, you can tell me anything." Darlene asked, full of concern.

It took him a few seconds to speak up. "I love this girl since I was twelve. She's my dream girl and I told myself that I'll marry her one day. The problem is, she doesn't feel the same way, so I tried to impress her... but I realized that even if I tried to be a better person for her so I can at least measure up to her ideal man, it's still not enough. It's never enough."

"Wow… Zack… that was kind of, um, deep." Darlene commented. "I don't know what to say… I mean, how can she not love you?"

Zack shrugged. "Story of my life."

Meanwhile, Cody walked up to them.

"Excuse me Darlene, let me borrow my brother for a second!"

He pulled Zack in one corner.

"I need your help!" Cody said with a worried look.

"I can't help you! Can't you see I'm an emotional wreck?"

"There's a cockroach in the dressing room and I'm scared! Can you please swat it?"

He didn't know if he's going to laugh or get annoyed. "Cockroach?"

"Yes! A big one!"

"Why do you need to go to the dressing room?"

"B-because I want to! Gee, stop asking!"

Zack rolled his eyes "Fine!"

When they reached the dressing room, Zack went inside while Cody stayed outside. "Where is it?"

"I'm too scared to go inside. It's just there!"

Suddenly, he heard a very familiar voice. "There's no lint on my dress, London!"

"Yes there is! It looks really ugly! I can't believe you haven't noticed it!"

Maddie was surprised when she saw Cody in the hallway, but when she entered the dressing room, she was even more surprised to see Zack. She felt awkward so she decided to leave. When she turned around to walk out, London shut the door close. She tried to turn the knob, but it was locked from the outside. "London?" she called.

"Sorry, we're locking it. We think you should talk and we're giving you an hour! Oh, and if you get bored, you can play with the wigs! Maddie, the brown wig will look good on you! Zack, take the black afro!"

Zack chuckled but Maddie was furious. "Open the door!" Maddie cried, banging the door. She already felt awkward just around him, let alone get stuck with him!

"_Great." _Zack thought._ "I'm stuck in a room with the girl who wants to get rid of me. Oh this is going to be so awesome!"_

London and Cody smiled at each other and did a high five.

"You know, I have a feeling they did this on purpose so calm down." He sat on a chair and raised his feet on the table.

She turned to him. "I will not calm down!" Maddie replied furiously. "London, I swear open the door!" she said, knocking continuously.

"No one can hear you anymore. The music is too loud outside and I suppose they already left. I think we are locked on purpose so if I were you, I'll just chill. There's nothing you can do about it. They won't open it. Unless you try to break the door down, but I doubt it, you don't look that strong to do that."

She faced him, "Will you be serious for once?!"

Maddie sat on one of the chairs in frustration.

She suddenly felt a difficulty in breathing and held her chest.

Zack was horrified and came up to her. "You alright? What's going on?"

"M-my… asthma…" she said, catching her breath.

Zack's thoughts raced; He didn't know what to do, except for one thing. "CPR!" he quickly leaned forward to give her mouth to mouth, but Maddie was also quick to stop him. "Don't… even… think… about it!" she warned.

"B-but… what do you want me to do?!" he asked in total panic.

"Give me my purse!"

He grabbed her little purse and gave it to her. Zack watched her as she took out an inhaler and breathed through it a couple of times. She then breathed a sigh of relief shortly after. "Much better."

Without any word, Zack walked up to her and gave her a big hug. "Don't scare me like that again!"

She froze and looked down on him.

She gently pushed him. "I'm o-okay! I'm good! Thanks for the… hug." She said, blushing.

-----------------

Carey stepped up to the stage and grabbed the mic. "I'm ready to sing my first song."

"Cody, where's your brother?" Darlene asked.

"Uh… I don't know, but I'm sure he's happy wherever he is!" Cody replied. Darlene just shrugged and paid attention to Carey on stage.

-----------------

"I'll call Moseby and let him know we're stuck here." She dug into her purse and couldn't find her cellphone. "Where is it?" she looked up and sighed, "I must've have left it at home again!"

"Don't you notice, whenever we get stuck, you always forget your cell phone?"

She squinted her eyes at him.

"You all planned this, didn't you? Are you making fun of me?"

Zack scoffed. "Don't think that I have anything to do with this. I'm as clueless as you are." he replied. "I mean, why would I lock myself in a dressing room?" he paused and continued, "Oh, why am I speaking to you? I'm supposed to be mad at you."

She sighed. "I'm sorry for everything I said. I didn't mean them."

He glanced her way as though judging the sincerity of her apology.

"Really? You didn't mean them?"

"Yes."

"I need a proof."

She raised her eyebrow. "What proof?"

"Ahh… Good question!" he replied with a beaming smile. He appeared to be thinking for a few seconds. "Be my girlfriend?" he said with a grin.

"Excuse me?"

Maddie glared at him.

"See? You don't want to. You're really not sincere with your apology."

"But you're asking too much!" she complained. She definitely was not ready to have a relationship with him.

"Too much?" he snickered, "Too much is when you asked me to stop loving you. So it's only fair."

Maddie didn't reply. She couldn't think of any excuse.

"Did you really think that by treating me cruel, I'll disappear? Well, you're wrong."

Still, she didn't reply.

"Now be honest with me for one second, Maddie. Just this once. Tell me, why can't you love me? And don't start me with the age gap excuse cos I won't buy it."

"Zack, you're a sweet guy. I said this before and I'll say it again. I know you'll grow up to be a great guy any girl would be lucky to date. And I'm not only saying this to make you feel better. I'm saying this because it's true. I really admire your determination. With that attitude, you can get any girl you want." she said with sincerity.

"Then why? Why can't you love me?"

"It's not the question if I love you or not. You are special to me. You're different from all the guys I've met. It's just not the right time."

"Well, I'm not going to let my true love slip away just because I fell in love with her at the wrong time."

Maddie didn't know how to respond to that.

_When he first told her that he was leaving, she remembered, she didn't feel sad or anything like that. She knew it was going to happen; someone has to leave the Tipton. _

_The time they spent together in her house was the start. She started to appreciate him and get to know the real him. She never thought she would feel something for him. Love. It was him who made her feel as if she is the most beautiful girl in the world. It's only him who has been consistent in pursuing his love for her. Pretty impressive, she thought. At that age, most boys would change their "crushes" from time to time; Zack didn't. He remained faithful to her, although he occasionally flirts with other girls. But that's his nature. He loves girls. _

_She was initially disgusted with the idea of liking him. What will her friends think? They're going to laugh at her. She's known at school for being smart, and falling for Zack Martin isn't exactly a smart move. Something she would never ever think in a million years._

_He's pretty much everything she's looking for in a guy. The only problem was he was too young for her._

**----------------**

After Carey sang one song, the audience applauded heartily and yelled "More!" She was only asked to do a song tonight, but since she was leaving for good, she just gave them their request. She came up with an idea.

"I am going to do another song, but I'd like to do it with Mr. Moseby. Mr. Moseby, can you please come up to the stage?"

"Go Mr. Moseby!" the employees said in unison.

Moseby blushed and totally surprised. "No… no, I don't sing…" Moseby said, laughing nervously.

"Come on Moseby, we know you have a hidden talent in there, I'll sing with you!"

"No Carey…"

"Moseby, everyone's cheering for you. You handle this employees everyday and yet you're too scared to come up on stage to sing?"

Moseby glared at him and raised his palm. "Okay, okay, but I'm only doing one song!"

"Deal!"

The room became silent when the song played. Moseby sang the first verse.

_The closer I get to you…  
The more you make me see_

"Wait, that's Moseby!" Zack whispered as he listened closely.

_  
By giving me all you got  
Your love has captured me_

Carey raised the mic for her turn.

_Over and over again  
I tried to tell myself that we  
Could never be more than friends  
But all the while, inside, I knew it was real  
The way you make me feel_

Maddie avoided any eye contact with him. The song seems to tell what's inside her soul at the moment._  
_

_Lyin' here next to you  
Time just seems to fly  
Needing you more and more (more and more)  
Let's give love a try_

Meanwhile, Cody glanced at London and she looked mesmerized with the song. He smiled and focused on the stage.

_  
Sweeter and sweeter love grows  
And heaven's there for those  
Who fool the tricks of time  
With hearts of love will find  
True love in a special way_

After the song, the audience applauded and gave them a standing ovation.

"See? That wasn't so bad! You can even replace me!" Carey told him.

Moseby shook his head, "Thanks, but I am more interested in running the hotel." He said, coming down the stage.

--------------

"By the way, what are you doing here? I thought you are having a nice dinner with your Trevor!" Zack asked with a hint of jealousy.

"It bothered me that I got you upset so I had to leave to say sorry to you. And let me just get this straight. I am not dating Trevor. He's just a friend. I don't know why I'm telling this to you, but I just thought you should know that." She paused, "I really thought you wouldn't speak to me the whole night."

"I wasn't really that mad. I was ready to forgive you the first time you said sorry, but I enjoyed the attention so much!" he grinned and Maddie raised her eyebrow. "Why are you so worried anyway? Why do you care if I didn't talk to you? I thought you want me out of your life?"

She stood up to get some distance with him.

"I never said I want you out of my life. I just want you to—"

"Stop loving you. I know. That's what you want Maddie. I know you can't love me back but, please don't ever stop me from loving you. If that's the last thing I'll ask of you… Cause I can't."

He surely knows how to melt her heart. How can she not love him?

Zack continued. "Though I can't blame you for doing that. I guess I bothered you so much. Don't worry, I'm leaving soon. I know you've been waiting for this to happen. I know you're probably thinking, 'Thank God, he's leaving! Oh what a relief! I wish I would never see him again!'"

She turned to face him.

"Do you know what I really think? Do you know how I feel? Do you know what I'm going through? NO! You don't know anything, Zack!" she replied with a hint of anger.

"You're right. I don't know anything. That's why you never took me seriously. I know I'm too dumb for you."

She sighed. "Zack…"

"Remember you told me once that you'll take me with you anywhere you go?"

_**Flashback**_

"_Zack, I'm not going anywhere, and even if I did, I'll take you with me."_

"_Really?"_

_**End Flashback**_

"Yes, I said that, but…" It wasn't true at the time. That was before she had feelings for him.

"So why can't I take you with me?"

She looked at him. "I already told you why."

Before Zack could respond, Cody opened the door, with Esteban next to him.

"Maddie, an ambulance took your grandma to the hospital! You have to go there quick!" Esteban informed in an urgent tone.

She was devastated and quickly ran outside.

* * *

_ A/N: That was really long. That's all I can say. lol :) No, really, I don't know what to say. I just hope you liked this chapter despite its cheesy-ness. Oh whattaheck, this whole ff is cheesy anyway. lol_

_Thank you so much for reviewing! _

_**lachopedreams, CiralFox, actingalexis13, Ghostwriter, Hayden, Lennie1984, Nikki, Chel08, hsmtroyella, MaseyIsLove, ceps, HELENz, PiperMarieHalliwell2nd  
**  
Thank you for your support and encouragement. I really, really appreciate it! I wish I could all give you a big hug:)  
_

_-Missy-_

_Sorry for the stupid mistakes again.**  
**_


	20. Ignorance is not bliss

"Wait, what's goin on?" Carey asked when she saw Maddie running across the room towards the exit.

"Her grandma was rushed to the hospital." Esteban answered.

Carey gasped. "What! Oh God..."

Zack came running shortly after. Carey stopped him, grabbing him by the arm. "Where are you going?"

"Mom, I'm going with her!"

"Honey, just stay in the suite, I'll be the one going with her."

He shook his head. "Not now, she needs me!"

With that, he broke away from her grip and continued running.

"Wait Maddie, I can drive you there!" London offered and followed her outside.

His gaze followed London. "If she's going, I'm going!" Cody then followed London.

Moseby glared at her. "I think you should follow the kids."

Carey sighed. "I think so too."

---------------------

They all rode in London's car, with London as the driver. She was driving as fast as she could. She had gotten used to it since she got her license a year ago. Carey sat in the front seat; Cody, Maddie and Zack were seated in the back, respectively.

Maddie was staring at a space, completely devastated with the news. Zack wanted to comfort her, but he didn't know the right words to say. "Maddie, look at me." he asked.

She didn't budge.

"Maddie..." he repeated. She finally turned to him with a confused look. He held her hand and gazed into her eyes, "She's going to be okay, I'm sure of it." he whispered, hoping it would make her feel better somehow.

She gave him a weak smile and rested her head to his shoulder to his surprise. He couldn't help but smile.

--------------------

They finally reached the hospital, parked and hurried in. Zack didn't let go of her hand, from the car all the way to the hospital entrance. Maddie didn't seem to mind; her mind was focused on her grandma. They were walking ahead of them.

Maddie went over to the information desk and asked a middle-aged lady who works there. "Excuse me, where's the room of Gertrude Fitzpatrick?" she asked in anticipation

"One second." The lady quickly typed something in the computer and after a few seconds, she spoke. "Room 305. May I know your name?"

"Madeline." With that, she quickly stormed off and hurried to the nearest elevator. She just wanted to know where her grandma is.

"And last name?" the lady looked up, and scowled when she realized that Maddie was gone. Zack, on the other hand, heard the lady and came up with an idea. He gently broke free from Maddie's hand and told them to go ahead. He went back and walked up to the lady. "You need her last name?"

"Yes."

"I think it's Martin." he said with a smirk and walked away.

The lady typed on the keyboard. "Madeline Martin?"

He turned around and walked back to the desk. "Actually, its Madeline Fitzpatrick-Martin, but she settled for Madeline Martin. She's too lazy to write her full name." He fought the urge to chuckle. "Anything else?"

The nurse looked up and replied, "No. Thank you."

He tapped the desk twice. "You're welcome."

He then followed them in the elevator with a smirk on his face.

----------------

Zack entered the room 305 and found Maddie talking to the doctor. "Where did you go?" Carey whispered.

"Just somewhere," he replied softly. He threw a glance at grandma and she's unconscious. A monitor is beeping to her left, and there are several tubes connected to her. He felt crushed. He loves grandma. She was the one who gave him hope that one day, Maddie will love him too. He felt bad that he wouldn't be able to talk to her before he leaves for Detroit.

"How is she?" Maddie asked the doctor.

"She had a minor heart attack. She's still under observation. I'll go ahead and let you know the results as soon as possible."

"Thank you." He shook hands with Maddie and left.

After the doctor left, Maddie scanned their faces and they all looked sympathetic to her. "You know what, you can all go back to the party, and I can stay here by myself." she said, and sat down on one of the chairs.

Carey gave her an odd look. "The party is over, Maddie. Where were you when everyone left?"

"Oh, that's because Maddie and Zack were having their own little party in the dressing room!" London teased, and it made Maddie's face turn bright red.

Carey glared at her. "Dressing room? What are you doing in the dressing room?"

Maddie quickly glanced at Zack before speaking, "Uh, Carey, what happened was--"

"They got into a big fight. Zack wouldn't speak to her so we locked them up." London ignored the sharp look from Maddie and continued. "Well, it looks like it worked! What do you think Cody?"

Cody hesitantly agreed. "Y-yeah."

"So, the questions is, are you officially together?" she asked excitedly

Maddie shook her head and gave her the evil eye. _Talk about wrong timing,_ she thought.

Carey eyed Zack and Maddie suspiciously. "Are you?"

Zack jokingly nodded and stopped abruptly when Maddie turned to him. She defensively replied to Carey. "No, we're totally not. Once and for all, we are just friends."

"Really? Cos I don't get jealous with my guy friends when they flirt with other girls." London commented

Maddie shot her a warning look followed by a glare. _Don't go there, London... _

Zack just gave London a stupid look, as if she was speaking in another language.

Suddenly, a nurse knocked and came in. "Hello. Who is—"she quickly glanced at her clipboard, "—Madeline?"

"That would be me." She said, raising her hand.

The nurse walked towards her. "Can you please sign this for me?"

She read it and her head jerked back a little. "This is not me." She said, returning the clipboard to the nurse.

The nurse gave her the puzzled look. "Isn't the patient Gertrude Fitzpatrick?"

"Oh, that's her, that's the patient's name, but I am not Madeline Martin." She paused and turned to Carey. "Martin?"

"Sounds perfect to me…" Zack said innocently. "What do you think, huh?" he said, nudging the nurse.

Carey glared at Zack. "Did you change Maddie's last name?"

The nurse gave him an odd look. "I'm sorry, I am confused…"

Maddie let out a little laugh. "That's okay. I'll sign it anyway. Let's just make changes later."

She signed it, using Martin as her last name.

"There you go. Thank you."

"Thank you, Miss Martin." She replied hesitantly and went out of the door. Maddie's jaw just dropped, which made Zack chuckle.

"Hey Maddie, don't worry about the bill, I'll take care of it." London offered.

Maddie shook her head. " London, you don't have to do that. I'll find a way."

"No, I insist. I've been causing you stress lately and this is my way of saying sorry. I wouldn't take no for an answer!"

She smiled sweetly at her.

"Thank you London." She gave him a hug.

Carey walked up to her and held her hand. "Maddie, I hate to leave, but we have an early morning flight tomorrow."

Zack rolled his eyes. His mom had to ruin the moment!

Maddie's face saddened. "Oh yeah. Of course it's okay. It'd be insensitive of me to keep you here. I'll be okay. I really appreciate all of you coming down here. I'm sorry I ruined your farewell party."

"Maddie, don't be silly! It's not ruined!" Carey retorted.

"Can I stay?" Zack spoke softly, with pleading eyes.

"Honey, it's getting late."

"Mom, please? I can stay up the whole night while she sleeps. I don't mind!" he said, trying to convince his mom

"Zack," Maddie interrupted, walking towards him. "I'll be fine. I appreciate your wanting to stay, but you have to go. I'll be okay, I promise." She said, her sad eyes staring at his face.

"Are you sure you'll be fine?"

Maddie nodded and gave him a weak smile. "Yeah."

Her eyes seemed to betray her words. Of course, she wanted him to stay.

It took him a few moments before making a decision. "Okay. I'll leave, only if mom will allow me to come back here in the morning."

All of them eyed Carey and she shrugged. "Fine with me." She said. "And you Maddie, make sure to get some rest. Give us a call if anything happens, alright?"

"Yes, Carey."

They all hugged her before they left. When Zack hugged her, he automatically closed his eyes. It felt good hugging her. It always felt good. He finally let go when Carey cleared her throat.

---------------

6 am the next morning, Cody woke up, smelling something good from the outside. He quickly got up and went out of their room. He found Zack in the kitchen, cooking. Carey was in the shower, and didn't know what was going on.

"Zack, what are you doing?" he asked in a raspy voice, scratching his eyes

"Oh, good you're awake, we're going to visit Maddie to the hospital. I'm cooking chicken soup for her. This is her grandma's recipe, the same thing she fed me when I was sick. I hope it'll make her feel better." Zack was wearing an apron over a dark green open-buttoned shirt, with white shirt underneath.

"It smells good..." he said, "Did you really cook it, or did you steal it from chef Paulo's kitchen?"

"What? Why would I steal this from chef Paulo? He can't even make a decent mushroom soup!" he said, stirring the soup

Cody let out a little laugh. "Please. You can't even boil water!"

He turned around to face Cody. "Aww... little brother, have you forgotten what I did for you and mom when you were sick? Oh yeah, I cooked! For a whole entire week!" he said, staring at him.

"Zack, I remember that. That was the worst week of my life! Eggs everyday? Come on! Until now, I can't eat eggs! Just the sight of them makes me want to hurl!" he said with disgust

"It's funny that you mentioned that, because I cooked you some eggs!" he said, placing the plate of eggs on the table.

He gasped. "Holy cow, not again!" he exclaimed, staring at the plate with three sunny side ups. "Can I just have the chicken soup?"

"No. This is for Maddie, not for you." he said, covering the casserole. "I'll just bring this to a boil and we're good to go! Now take a shower and get dressed. I bet she's hungry by now."

Cody rolled his eyes and shook his head.

--------------------

Zack and Cody arrived at the hospital at 6:30 am. They knocked, opened the door and found Maddie scribbling something in her notebook. When the door opened, Maddie quickly closed the notebook and hid it.

"Hi Maddie!"

"Hello guys!" she greeted. She managed to go home last night to clean up after herself and change her clothes. She was wearing a pink baby tee and a pair of jeans.

"How's grandma?"

"She's still unconscious. But the doctor assured me that she's out of danger."

Zack sighed. "That's good. Did you get some sleep?"

"A little."

Zack put the small paper bag on the top of the table. "I brought you something to eat. The nurse said you haven't eaten yet."

Maddie shook her head. "I'm not really hungry. Thanks." She's too worried about her grandma eventhough the doctor said she was out of danger. And because of that, she can't get the appetite to eat. She will only have peace of mind if she wakes up.

"But you have to eat!" he insisted

"I'm okay, Zack."

"No, you're not. How can you be okay when you haven't eaten since last night? If grandma's awake, she wouldn't let you starve yourself."

She just shook her head. "It's really sweet of you but..."

Zack grew serious. "Maddie, I don't want to argue. Eat it or do I have to feed you?" He ordered her like a little girl.

Maddie just stared at the food, looked up at Zack and back to the food. She made no effort to even touch the spoon. He stared at her, feeling disappointed that Maddie ignored his concern.

Zack closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Cody, I'm going outside for a walk. When I get back, I want that food eaten." He went out and slammed the door.

Cody looked at Maddie. "He's upset. You better eat it if I were you. Aren't you hungry?"

"I don't know… I'm really worried about her. I just want her to wake up."

"You know, I don't usually agree with Zack, but this time he's right. If your grandma's awake now, she won't let you starve yourself. Look at you." Cody paused. "You look so weak. You can't do this to yourself. I'm sure your grandma's going to be okay."

A tear trickled down her cheek and she wiped it right away.

"This is so hard. I can't think… I can't sleep… I can't function anymore…"

"The first thing you should do is to put some food in your stomach. Maybe then you can think clearly."

She glanced at the food.

"You know, Maddie, it will really break his heart if you won't eat that. He personally prepared it for you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He did all the cooking, so better grab a bite before he comes back."

Maddie grabbed the spoon and ate the soup. "This is grandma's soup!" she blurted. She took another sip. "This is so good! I love it!" she started to eat like a savage, one sip after another. She realized that she was starving as heck.

Cody stared at her in disbelief.

"Wow… Are you sure your last meal was last night? Looks like you haven't had a meal in years!"

Suddenly, Zack went in and was surprised to see that she's almost done eating.

"Zack, this is so good! The best!" she talked with her mouth full, waving the spoon.

Zack smiled widely. "Thanks. I thought you're going to upset me the whole morning."

"Thank you! I can't believe you cooked it the way grandma did! You're good!"

Zack smiled proudly. "Future husband in the making... that's me!"

Maddie chuckled.

Suddenly, the door flung open and it revealed a beautiful, tall blonde, who looked like an older version of Maddie.

"Michelle!" she said, walking towards her and hugged her

"Maddie, how's grandma?" she said, walking towards grandma.

"She'll be okay." She replied. "Oh, by the way, guys, this is my big sister, Michelle."

Cody shook hands with her, followed by Zack. "Maddie, you didn't tell me you have a gorgeous sister." he commented, being the natural flirt that he is.

Maddie rolled her eyes. _Zack, you flirt._ "Hah, cute. Who is this?" Michelle asked

"This is Zack, and that's Cody. They're my friends from the Tipton hotel."

"I'm Michelle Audrey Christina Amanda Scarlett Fitzpatrick." she smiled.

Zack and Cody exchanged glances. "Whoa. Your parents really like long names." Cody commented.

"Oh, you should hear Liam's. Liam Nelson Christopher--"

"No, no that's fine." Zack interrupted, slightly weirded out.

Cody leaned over Zack and whispered, "Zack, it's already 7. We're supposed to leave."

Zack glanced at the clock and sighed. How time flew so fast.

"What's the matter?" Maddie asked, noticing Zack's long face.

"We have to leave now. 8:30 am is our flight."

"Oh…" she muttered. "Michelle, can you watch grandma for a few minutes? I'll just walk them downstairs."

"Yup!" Michelle replied.

Zack, Cody and Maddie went out of the room, and took the elevator to go down to the main hall.

------------------

They finally reached the exit and before going straight to the bus stop, they all hung out at the hospital's garden.

Maddie broke the silence. "So…" Maddie said, "I guess… this is goodbye."

"Don't say that. This is not goodbye." Zack replied. "Just see you again."

Maddie smiled sadly. "Am I really going to see you again?"

"If you're not yet sick of me."

Maddie chuckled and gave him a big hug. "Of course not, silly!"

Zack, utterly surprised, hugged her back and closed his eyes. "I'll miss you."

She calmly stroked his hair and fought the urge to cry. It'll just make it worse.

Glancing at his watch, Cody cleared his throat. _Let's go, Zack. If I don't get the chance to say goodbye to London, you're dead._

Maddie broke free from his embrace. "Uh… You guys should go; you don't wanna be late for your flight." Maddie finally said

"Do you wanna come with us to the airport?" Zack asked

"I can't. I want to be here when grandma wakes up."

"Oh…" he muttered in disappointment.

Maddie saw the bus just arrived from the distance.

"There's the bus, you should go now before it leaves."

Zack looked at her. "Any last words?"

Maddie smiled at him. "Goodbye, Zack." she paused, "or see you again."

He was hoping that maybe, she would tell him that he's got a chance with her, or that one day she'll wait for him to grow up and they could be together, but he was disappointed. Zack nodded, looking down. "Alright. Then, bye." He turned around. "Let's go Cody." He walked ahead, leaving Cody behind. Cody looked up to her, and noticed that she was gazing on his brother.

"Maddie, I know your secret. But don't worry; I'm not going to tell him if you don't want to."

Maddie looked at him in confusion. "My secret?"

Cody smiled and nodded. "You're in love with Zack. Mom accidentally spilled it to me, and I've seen the pictures in London's cell phone. I didn't believe it at first because it's not likely to happen. I mean, let's face it, Zack is way out of your league. But when mom told me, that's when I believed. I just have one question: Why?"

Maddie shook her head. "I don't know Cody. I don't know."

Cody smiled a little. "If it's any consolation, I have a secret too."

"What is it?"

Cody folded his arms across his chest and replied, "I am in love with London Tipton."

Maddie gasped. "You're kidding…"

Cody shook his head. "You pretty much had the same reaction with Zack when I first told him about it. Unbelievable, but true."

Maddie broke into a smile. "Does she know?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Not necessary. It won't make any difference."

"How do you know? You haven't even tried."

"What about you? Why aren't you telling Zack yet?"

Maddie looked down at her feet. "If I tell him, he might not want to leave anymore. And besides, it's better this way. I don't wanna risk our friendship." Maddie paused. "Just don't tell your brother no matter what."

Cody nodded. "I won't."

Maddie smiled and glanced at the bus station. The bus looked like it was about to leave.

"Cody, you have to go! The bus is leaving!"

Cody turned around and panicked. "Alright, Maddie! See you around!" with that, he ran towards the bus station, and luckily, he got in before the door closed.

Maddie waved, hoping that Zack and Cody would see her. When the bus drove off, she slowly put her hand down, and went back inside the hospital. Her eyes were getting cloudy and before she knew it, she was tearing up uncontrollably. She went inside the elevator and immediately pushed the closed button so no one will share with her. When the door closed, she let the tears fall freely to her cheeks while making little sobs. She lost her love, just like that, without even telling him how she really felt. And worst, she might not see him again.

Why did she have to develop this stupid feeling just before he leaves?

When the elevator reached the third floor, she quickly wiped her tears with her hand, hoping that no one would notice she cried. Especially her sister Michelle. She went to the bathroom, washed her face, and went back in room 305.

Michelle looked up when she opened the door. "What took you so long?"

"I just said goodbye, they're leaving today for Detroit."

"Oh, really? For vacation?"

Maddie shook her head. "For good."

"Oh…" She mumbled. She stared at her and noticed something. "Hey, did you just cry?"

"No, I didn't! What made you say that?" she denied

"Your eyes are swollen. Look, why are you lying about it? It's okay to cry. I guess you have a strong friendship with those twins."

"It's worse than that, Michelle." She replied. "I fell in love with one of them."

Michelle almost fell on her seat. "Excuse me?" she asked, her head tilted to the left

"Michelle, you heard me, okay?" she replied calmly.

"Are you serious? How old are they?" she asked in total astonishment.

"Does it matter?"

Michelle looked down and scratched her head. "Uh… I guess not. It's just… odd. You never liked younger guys, Maddie. I know you."

"But Zack is different."

"In what way?"

"In a way that you will never understand." She replied.

"So… which one of them? The one with blonde hair?"

"Yeah. The one with blonde hair and green eyes." She said sarcastically

"Wait, they look exactly alike!" she blurted. Maddie swore, London and Michelle are long-lost sisters. Both beauty, no brains.

"Duh! They're twins!" she replied. "I'm talking about Zack. He has a crush on me since he was 12, but I really didn't care. I never had this feeling until recently, when he stayed in my bedroom." Michelle gave her a stupid look. "Hey, it's not what you think! He was sick, okay. So I had to look after him. Anyway, to make the long story short, I developed this feeling while he stayed there."

"Does he know?"

"No."

Gasping, she exclaimed. "What? Shame on you, Madeline Fitzpatrick!"

Maddie gave her a stupid look. "What do you want me to do, go to Tipton and tell him?"

"Yeah! He deserves to know, Maddie!"

"Too late, they're probably leaving the hotel at 7:30."

They both glanced at the wall clock and it said 7:15

"Holy cow, you should go! If you won't tell him, you'll be sorry, Maddie! Go!" she said, pushing her towards the door.

"Are you… are you sure?" Maddie asked in hesitation

"YES!!!!"

Maddie glared at her for a minute before replying. "Okay, I'll try!"

--------------------

Maddie went straight to the elevator and hit the 23rd button.

When she finally reached the suite, she hesitantly knocked.

Carey answered the door, with a surprised look on her face. "Maddie?" she said, letting her in. There were 4 suitcases laying on the floor, 2 for Carey, 2 for Cody.

"I-I just wanted to say goodbye." She replied

"Come in!" Carey said, letting her in. "I'm so glad you stopped by, we're about to leave in a few minutes. How's your grandma?"

"The doctor said she's out of danger."

"Oh good." she replied. "If you need anything, and I mean anything, just give us a call anytime, okay? If I need to fly from Detroit to Boston, I'll do it for you. Keep that in mind."

Maddie gave her sad smile, her eyes were starting to tear up. "Thanks for everything."

"Oh," Carey muttered and gave her a hug. "You are very welcome, Maddie. You know you are like a daughter to me." she said, and pulled back.

She turned to Cody. "Cody…" she gave him a hug. "Keep in touch, will you?"

"Will do, Maddie." He replied.

She stepped back and walked towards the door. "Alright… I better go. I have to be back at the hospital."

"Wait Maddie." She turned around. "Aren't you going to say goodbye to Zack?"

"No Carey, I really have to go. And I already said goodbye to him in the hospital awhile ago." She didn't want to. It's hard for her to say goodbye to him, and she doesn't want to get all emotional in front of him. Needless to say, she decided to cancel her original "plan."

"Maddie…" Carey continued, "It would really mean a lot to him if you at least talk to him before we leave. I'm sure he wants to see you at this very moment. We still got five minutes, so go ahead. He's in the room."

Maddie glanced at the room and back at her. "Okay. I'll just say a quick goodbye."

Carey smiled. "We'll be waiting downstairs."

Maddie nodded. When Carey and Cody left the suite, Maddie walked towards the room. It took her a few seconds before she finally knocked.

Zack immediately opened the door, and obviously surprised. "Hey."

Maddie went nervous. "Hi."

--------------------------

When Carey and Cody reached the lobby, they saw Moseby, Esteban and the other crews waiting for them.

"In behalf of the Tipton staff, I would like to give this little gift to you." Moseby said, handing her a rectangular box with a ribbon on top.

Carey was surprised and took the gift. "You shouldn't have!" she said

"Open it."

Carey ripped the wrapping paper and opened the box. It was a miniature replica of the Tipton hotel with a picture holder in front. Their (Zack, Cody and Carey) picture was inserted in the "main door" of the Tipton.

Carey was touched. "Oh... Thank you..." she just didn't know what to say.

"I am really saddened to lose one of the best employees here at the Tipton. Carey, you are one of the best singers Tipton has ever had. It's a shame that they're letting you go."

"Oh Moseby..." She said, already tearing up. Cody was comforting her, rubbing her back... "Mom..."

Esteban gave her a kleenex. "Thanks Esteban." she wiped her tears and spoke, "Of all the hotels we have stayed, this is definitely the most memorable and the most special to me. I never had this much fun staying in a hotel before. Moseby, it only means that you are doing a very good job in running this hotel."

Moseby looked down. "Thank you, Carey."

Carey just smiled.

Moseby continued. "Hopefully, I'll also learn how to handle kids who are trying to destroy my hotel." he said, glaring at Cody.

"Don't look at me, it was all Zack's idea!" he said defensively

Suddenly, London Tipton emerged from the elevator. "What's going on?" she asked, utterly confused when she saw the employees crowding in one area.

-----------------

"I'm here to apologize for the way I acted this past couple of days." Maddie said

Zack rested his palm on the door frame. "It's okay. I understand. I know I've been a pest lately, so I don't blame you. Like I said, you don't have to love me back."

"Zack, you don't understand--"

"No, I understand." he interrupted. "I know you can't love me. It's fine. I have to move on, especially now that I won't see you for a long time. I have to get used to not seeing you everyday. I don't know how the heck am I going to do it, but I'll try." he paused and continued, "I hope Trevor will take care of you because the minute he makes you cry, I am going to hunt him down and he will be the last merit scholar on the face of the earth." he said, nodding.

Maddie can't help but chuckle.

"Yeah, that's it Maddie. Smile. There's no reason to be sad."

"What do you mean there's no reason to be sad?"

"I'm leaving and I'll be out of your life. Aren't you waiting for this, to get rid of me?"

"I don't want to get rid of you." she said, with loving gaze

Zack whispered softly. "I love you, Maddie. You're probably sick of hearing it from me, but that's how I feel."

Maddie blinked at him, not sure what to say next. The words were at the tip of her tongue, and she knew her heart wanted to say it back, because it was the truth and that Zack deserved to know it. But she couldn't she was afraid.

He bit his lip, squeezing her hands. "It's okay, if you dont believe it right now. I'll always wait," he whispered. "I'll just keep on trying until you finally trust me."

She hugged him close, closing her eyes, hurting at the pain she was now causing him.

She loves him, even though she's not sure how or why.

Zack blinked, pulling back to look at her. "What did you say?"

Her hand flew to her mouth as she realized she had just been saying her thoughts out loud

"D-Did you just say you love me?" he stared in bewilderment.

Fresh tears started to form into her eyes as she pressed her lips together.

"Maddie, will you say it?"

"I--"

He held her gaze.

"I--"

He swallowed. Was his heart going to crash and burn, when she realize that she wasn't ready to accept his love?

"I love you, Zackary Martin." she whispered, exhaling heavily.

He stared at her like she was from outer space.

* * *

_A/N: First of all, I am sooooo sorry this one took so long. I have been bombarded with lots of schoolworks and projects this month so I didn't have time to work on this. Also, writer's block sucks! So I sat down and tried to think of ideas. Actually, this chapter is not finished, but I decided to just put the rest of it in a separate chapter.  
_

_**Thank YOUUUU** for all your support, words of encouragement and wonderful reviews! You're all super awesome! I hope you liked this chapter... (fingers crossed) Not to sound cheesy or anything, but sometimes I wonder why I get such wonderful reviews for this story. I mean, sometimes I can't stand my writing. lol  
_

**_hayden, actingalexis13, lachopedreams, Ghostwriter626 (that song is called 'The closer I get to you." :) ), ciralfox, HELENz, Rongo, ceps, Chel08 (next chap. lol.), hsmtroyella, PiperMarieHalliwell2nd, #1 Fan, fortitude, Lennie (haha i thought you abandoned me)._**

**_Thanks so much from my heart... :)_**

_Fortitude: Um. haha. I know that. Thanks for being honest._

_A sequel? hmm... I don't know. I'll think about it. :) Oh, and this story is not yet finished. I still have a lot of things in store for this. I WILL PUT THE NEXT CHAPTER AS SOON AS I CAN! yeah-yah!  
_

_-Missy-_


	21. Magical

It took him a few seconds before he was able to speak. The revelation was too shocking for him.

"Maddie, you have to believe it or else I won't. Do you?" he asked truthfully

Although her words seemed to be true, he couldn't help but doubt her, judging from the way she treated him in the past.

She couldn't avoid the subject any longer.

Pressing her lips, she nodded. "I believed in it a long time ago. I just didn't show it, hoping that it would go away, but it didn't. I didn't realize I was being unfair. And for that, I'm sorry..." She confessed as her tears continued to flow.

Zack just hugged her, not knowing what exactly to say. Little did he know, she was having a hard time dealing with the fact that her grandma's still in coma and the same time he's leaving. Both were equally painful for her.

Maddie pulled away, wiped her tears using her hands and spoke again, "Well… I can't stay too long. That's all I really needed to say. Have a safe trip." With that, she turned to her heel when Zack caught her hand, and spun her around.

"Maddie, you can't run away from me all the time like you're doing now." Zack said, looking at her intensely

Maddie stared back at him with a confused look. "Zack, I-I really need to go…"

"No you don't." he insisted. "I think we need to talk."

"I already told you everything that you need to know."

"Nope!" he blurted. "You didn't tell me that out of all the good qualities I have, it's my handsome bad boy appeal that did it for you!" he replied in a very cocky manner

Maddie shot him a sharp look. "Very funny!"

"So…" he said, shoving his hand in his pocket. "I guess this means we are officially dating …"

Maddie looked at him for a second and shook her head.

"I don't know, Zack." She hasn't really thought about that.

"What?" he blurted, looking upset. "W-why? I promise, I will not check on other girls! I will not flirt with them! I will not look when a hot babe passed by. I'll be a faithful, nice boyfriend!"

"That's not the point." She replied. "You're leaving; it's not easy to date someone you're not going to see for a long time. I don't think I can handle long distance relationships."

"Well, I can!" he said confidently

"How do you know? Did you ever have one?"

"No but…" he paused, "you know that there's nothing I can't do for you, especially now that I know that you feel the same way. It's just going to hurt me, Maddie."

She didn't respond.

"What, don't you trust me?" Zack asked

"Actually, I don't"

"Why?" he said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"You are flirting every girl that comes your way, Zack. That's how you are."

"It's not my fault that the ladies dig me!" he said defensively

"Really? I'm not so sure about that…"

Zack snapped. "Oh, I have an idea! Why don't we try dating for a week? I-I mean, we'll never know until we try, right?" he said, trying to convince her. "I'm only asking for a week! Then after that, we'll know if we should continue or just break… up." he said

She glared at him for a couple of minutes and nodded. "Okay!"

"Okay what?"

"Let's try dating, I mean--."

"Y-you'll date me?" he interrupted

She smiled and shrugged. "I don't know if this is a good idea but…" she said, "I'm willing to give it a try. You can only take so much rejection, Zack."

He glared at her for a minute and suddenly broke into a smile, biting his lower lip.

"What's with the stupid grin?"

He stepped back a few steps. "I'll be right back. It's too early in the morning, and I don't want to wake our neighbors. I just need to do this really quickly, and don't leave!" He said, leaving Maddie confused.

He entered the bathroom and closed it.

Shortly after, she heard a loud "yes!!!" from the inside, as if he won the lottery.

Maddie just shook her head, placing her hand over her forehead.

"_Oh, this is going to take awhile…"_ She thought.

---------------------

All of them turned their attention to London Tipton. Cody lightened up upon seeing her.

"Miss London, they're leaving for Detroit." Esteban answered

"Oh, have fun on your vacation!" She said happily

"London, they're not on vacation. I thought I told you they're leaving us for good?" Moseby asked

Carey walked over to London, who was saddened. "London, I'll miss you." Carey hugged her.

"Why are you leaving? Is Moseby mean to you?" She said, and shot Moseby a sharp look.

Carey shook her head. "No, sweetie. I'm done working here. That's the nature of my job. I move to different places from time to time."

"Well, I move from different places from time to time but I still come back here at the Tipton!"

"London… That's because this is your home."

"But this is also your home! Look, do you want me to talk to dad?"

"No, no, you don't have to do that. Mr. Tipton has a replacement already. I've met her and she's really nice. You'll like her."

She hugged her. "I'm so sorry."

"Honey, its okay." She said, stroking her hair.

"London, I need to talk to you for a minute." Cody finally said

"Okay! Let's talk!" she said, crossing her arms.

"I mean, privately?"

She smiled. "Oh. Sure."

She walked him in one corner while Moseby and the staff continued chatting with Carey.

"What do you wanna tell me, Cody?"

He took a deep breath before speaking. It's now or never.

"London…"

She stared in anticipation

"I-I really like you…" he said, stammering, "I-I mean... like that..." _Argh! I should get better at this! _"And I don't like you because you're rich. I like you because…" he paused, "underneath the 'heiress' attitude, I know you are a beautiful person, London."

Although surprised, she knew exactly what he meant. "Aww… Cody…"

"But don't worry," he continued, "I'm not like Zack. I'm not going to call you sweet thang or hate your boyfriends or anything stupid like that." He said and continued, "I just thought I'd let you know that not everyone is after your money."

She smiled and kissed Cody on the cheeks.

"You are so sweet. Remind me to dance with you at your prom." She said, and walked away.

He looked dumbfounded.

-------------------

Zack came out of the bathroom, looking calm. He smiled at her.

"Zack, are you alright?"

"Y-yeah. I'm okay!"

"Okay. I guess I can leave!" she said walking towards the door but Zack stood in front of her and stopped her.

"Whoa…. Whoa… not so fast! We haven't talked about one thing."

Maddie glanced at the clock on the wall and gasped. "Zack, its quarter to 8. You have to go down in the lobby!"

"You do realize that you just gave me a reason not to leave, don't you?" Zack said

"Are you crazy? They're waiting for you!"

"Look at you, you're so cute when you're scared!" he laughed. Maddie just gave him a sharp look. "Okay, I'm leaving, on one condition."

"What?"

"Kiss me."

She gave him a stupid look. "Not gonna happen!"

"What! I am officially your boyfriend, but we still can't kiss. Can you say torture?"

"We can't kiss, Zack. It's not a good idea."

"Says who?" he said, motioned to look around, "I don't see anyone here."

"We're still three years apart. It's gross!"

He scowled. "I thought you love me?"

Maddie sighed. "It's still too weird for me. I can't imagine kissing a guy younger than me even if I love him."

"Even if he's an expert kisser?"

Maddie rolled her eyes. "That's enough, Zack. You're going to miss your flight!"

"At this point…." He paused, "I don't care!"

Maddie got up and walked over to the door. "That's it. I'm leaving."

Zack shook his head. "Not without my kiss, baby." He said, blocking the main door.

Maddie took a deep breath and calmly spoke. "Zack, move away from the door."

"Make me." He said, folding his arms across his chest

"Oh Zack…" she sighed

"Fine. If mom gets late on her first day on the job, it's your entire fault. I don't care!"

"You are seriously out of your mind!" Maddie shook her head. "I can't believe how stubborn you are! I said I can't kiss—"

She didn't finish her sentence as Zack reached up and caught her lips.

Once again, he caught her off guard.

Zack's hands rested lightly on her waist as he continued to kiss her purposefully as he was experiencing the sweetness of kissing her first for the first time.

She didn't realize that her arms had crept up around his neck as she lost herself in his gentle yet passionate kiss.

She found herself lost in it.

Finally, Maddie opened her eyes, pulled away and gasped for air. "Zack…" she said, exhaling

He opened his eyes and gazed at her, giving her the sexiest smirk she had ever seen.

Blushing, she bit her lip and gazed into his eyes. "I… I gotta go…."

Before she opened the door, Carey opened it and caught them in an uncomfortable position, her hands still on his face and his hands on her hips.

All three of them were shocked.

Maddie immediately pulled her hands.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but…"

"It's okay, I'm leaving anyway!" Maddie said, her legs slightly wobbled. She could swear she hasn't reacted like this to a kiss before. How can anyone be a good kisser at such age?

"What's wrong, Maddie?" Carey asked

"Nothing! See you sometime!" she said, hurrying outside.

"I wish your grandma a speedy recovery!" Carey yelled

"Thanks!" she yelled back from the hallway.

-----------------

"Come on now, honey, were gonna be late, where's your suitcase?"

He didn't budge.

"Zackary?"

He finally looked at her.

"Are you ready?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I'm ready."

* * *

_A/N: I know I promised to update as soon as I can, but I couldn't. I was involved in a car accident recently, I was the driver and it was my fault, so it was really hard for me to find the inspiration to continue. I'm okay, though, I wasn't hurt. I was just deeply upset and probably traumatized. So I apologize if this chapter wasn't good enough, its hard, really. No, I'm not saying this to gain sympathy, I'm just sharing how I feel cos that's how I really am. :)  
_

_Anyway, here you go. I hope you like it. It's not the ending. And THANK YOU for the wonderful reviews!_

_**actingalexis13, Rongo, hsmtroyella, hayden, stessa, MaseyIsLove, HELENz, StarWarsRules, Ghostwriter626, Chel08, Lennie1984, Johnny Solstice, SparklyZanessaFan, ceps, Sam, happy-snow-angel **_

_Thanks for your time. I can't wait to know what you think of the chapter. Till next time! I hope I'll find the inspiration to write the next chapter soon. :)_


	22. Epilogue

**One Year Later…**

As Maddie sat quietly in the Tipton banquet, she couldn't help but reminisce what happened in the past year. She was celebrating her 17th birthday at the Tipton as per London's request. London had been nicer to her ever since the Martins left. She kept wondering if she has a new guy, but she would just say, "He's the sweetest guy I've ever met in my life." It was a puzzle to her, but she didn't ask further.

London surprised Maddie that day. She was coming from school when she went straight to the Tipton to work. She arranged a costume party for her birthday. All of her family and friends from Our Lady of Sorrow were invited, including some of the nuns, who were dressed in "normal" clothing. She was moved to tears. And the surprise didn't end there. London gave her a make-over, hiring the best make up artist in Boston, and gave her a pretty princess gown. The end result was fabulous. She got lots of compliments from everyone at the party. She looked stunningly gorgeous.

In spite of all these, she still wasn't happy.

Everyone was having a blast that night.

Except her.

_**Flashback**_

_As soon as Maddie got out of the elevator after her talk with Zack, London cornered her.__ She noticed that Maddie wasn't herself._

"_What happened up there?"_

"_Nothing! I just said goodbye!" she said and passed her_

"_Oh come on. You stayed there for like ten minutes! You're lying, Maddie!"  
_

_She stopped and turned around. "It's a secret," she smiled with twinkle in her eyes._

"_Oooohh… Not fair! Why do you keep it from me? I mean, its not like you kissed or anything like that!"_

_She laughed at her remark. If only London knew...  
_

"_Okay, if I tell you, will you let me leave?"_

"_Deal!" she nodded enthusiastically._

"_Okay." She took a deep breath before replying. "I told him that I loved him."_

"_See! I was right all along!" she blurted and hugged her. "I'm so proud of you!"  
_

_"Thanks..." she replied, a little surprised._

_London pulled away and looked her in the eye. "So does that mean..."  
_

_Meanwhile, Zack and Carey were having the same conversation in the elevator._

"_Zack, I'm surprised." Carey noticed that Zack was in unbelievably good mood._

"_What do you mean?"_

"_You don't look sad at all. You used to be so upset about this."_

_He smiled. "Me? Upset? I'm so happy, nothing can bring me down!"_

_Carey furrowed her eyebrows at him._ "_You're not sad to leave Maddie? I'm glad you finally understand that you can't be together."_

_The elevator opened and Cody was waiting for them by the door. Zack spotted London and Maddie, looking like they were in an argument. He smiled_

"_Let's just say that I'm looking at the brighter side of things." He replied, glaring at Maddie._

_Cody finally butts in, not knowing what exactly they were talking about._

"_What exactly is the brighter side?"_

"_You won't believe what I'm about to say in the next five minutes."_

_"Okay, I won't."_

_"Well, you have to!"  
_

_"Come on, is there anything you say that is believable?"_

"_Let's say you have a point. But this time, I'm really telling the truth."_

"_What truth?"_

_Before he continued his sentence, London announced "You are dating Zack?!"_

_Zack saw Maddie's horrified reaction, and when she looked his way, he winked at her._

"_London, what are you talking about?" Moseby interrogated. _

"_They're dating and they're hiding it from us!"_

_He was skeptical, as if it was next to impossible. "That's ridiculous. Maddie would rather stick needles in her eyes than date this hooligan!"_

_Zack objected. "Moseby… Have you heard of 'undeniable charm and striking good looks?' Well, I'm lucky to posses both!"_

_Suddenly, her cellphone rang. "Hello? Michelle! Oh, oh, okay, I'll be there!" She hung up and faced them. "I gotta go!"_

_Carey was surprised. "Wow. I just left you two for a couple of minutes and…" she shook her head and picked up her suitcase, "Let's go, we're gonna be late!" she said, walking ahead. _

"_So Zack… how does it feel like to leave my hotel?" Moseby asked_

"_Moseby, although I'm the one leaving, its you who I feel sorry for. I mean, let's face it, your job's going to be a lot boring without me." Zack replied, tapping his shoulder.  
_

_Cody rolled her eyes and dragged him out. "Let's go, stop bullying Moseby."_

_Esteban sneaked up behind him. "You have to admit, Mr. Moseby, the blonde person is telling the truth."_

"_Get back to your job!"_

_-----------------_

_Back at the hospital. Michelle told her that grandma finally woke up so she called her immediately._

_As soon as she entered the room, she hugged grandma. "Grandma, how are you feeling?"_

"_I feel great! How are you feeling? What did he say?"_

_She gave Michelle a confused look. _

"_Oh, Maddie, I was telling her where you went." She smiled. "So, what happened? How did it go? Were you able to tell him?" Michelle asked_

"_Yes. It feels good to get it off my chest. It's hard to pretend that I don't feel anything, when I do. Thanks for encouraging me."_

_She smiled. "I lost my love because I never told him I felt."_

"_Is that why you were so persistent in convincing me to tell him?"_

"_Yes. And I don't want it to happen it to you."_

_She smiled._

"_I have to warn you though, long distance relationship is not easy."_

_She smiled in confidence. "We can make it, Michelle. We can make it."_

_-----------------_

_That night, Maddie was at home, resting. Michelle asked her to rest for her school tomorrow, and she volunteered to watch over grandma. She was laying down on her bed, getting ready to sleep when her cell phone rang._

"_Hello?"_

"_Hi, its me."  
_

_She smiled upon hearing his voice._

"_Hey Zack! What's up?"_

_"Uh... Actually, I'm not sure why I'm calling..."  
_

_She heard someone spoke in Zack's background. "Zack, will you hang your clothes in the closet!"_

_She chuckled. "Oops. Someone's in trouble."_

"_Ugh. It's Cody. I wish there's a way to divorce nagging siblings."_

_She laughed heartily.  
_

"_So… how's grandma?"_

"_She's doing fine. She woke up this morning and she'll be out in a few days."_

"_Oh that's good to know."_

"_You know, she really likes you for me. She's so funny." she said, rolling on the other side of the bed.  
_

_"Well, what can I do... I'm naturally charming... Every grandma likes me for their grand daughters..."  
_

_"Oh, is that so? Remind me again why I'm dating you..." she jokingly replied.  
_

"_Kidding aside, what made you change your mind about me?"_

_His question made her smile. _"_I hate to admit it, but you are so charming, it kills me."_

"_That's why you were so jealous of London!"_

"_That's not very nice of you to mention that, Zack!" They laughed and Maddie glanced at the clock._

"_Oh, I need to sleep. My school starts at 8."_

"_Oh okay. Good night."_

"_Goodnight."_

"_I love you."_

_She paused, feeling awkward to say it back._

"_Iloveyoutoo,bye." She quickly hung up and bit her lip._

_She slept with a smile on her face._

_It couldn't get any better._

_-----------------_

_The first few days were amazing. They would send text messages for each other almost all the time. She even got in trouble for it._

_One day in class, Sister Mary was discussing a lesson when she noticed Maddie giggling in the back while texting.  
_

"_Madeline!"  
_

_She immediately looked up and put down her phone._

"_Yes, sister." she replied nervously.  
_

"_What is so funny?"_

_London interrupted. "Sister, not what. Who!"_

"_N-nothing." She lied and shot London a glare. Corrie chuckled a little._

_Sister Mary just continued the discussion, while Maddie decided to keep her cellphone before it gets confiscated._

_-----------------_

_The first week was awesome. They had constant communication. Zack aced in class, all inspired by Maddie. He would tell her the sports he participated in, even the girls who throws themselves at him. They were talking more like friends. And she prefers it that way._

_He called her one time while she was taking her break from the counter. She was using the phone in Moseby's office, thinking that he was in the kitchen and won't be back soon.  
_

"_So, one week is up. And we still got it goin on, sweet thang!"_

"_I know. I'm so proud of us!"_

_Moseby entered the office and interrupted_

_"And I'm not really proud right now that you're using my office phone for your personal calls."_

_She quickly stood up. "Uh... Zack, I'll call you later. Bye." She hung up and apologized to Moseby. He just shook his head. He let her get away with it when he noticed how happy she was whenever she talked to Zack.  
_

_-----------------_

Maddie couldn't help but smile at her thoughts. London noticed her. "What are you smiling at?"

"Nothing." she felt like an idiot for smiling all by herself.

"Don't you wanna dance?"

"I'm okay, London."

"Okay!" with that, she left her alone.

She continued reminiscing.

_-----------------_

_After a full month of a happy relationship, they began to have problems little by little. She started to become busy and lost time for him._

"_Zack, I'm sorry, I can't talk right now." She said while reviewing for her major exam.  
_

"_Oh, okay. I'll try again later," and he hung up. It had always been like that in the past couple of days. __The used to talk everyday. Now, they're lucky to talk for 10 mins per week.__ She was always busy. He tried to understand her but he couldn't stand it anymore.  
_

_One time, she was at the counter helping customers while her cellphone rang.  
_

"_Zack, I'll call you later—"_

"_Wait, Maddie, what's happening to us? We hardly talk to each other!"_

"_I'm too busy, I'm sorry."_

"_I understand but… can we talk for more than ten minutes?"_

"_I'd really love to but… I don't have time to talk for hours."_

"_I see…" he said bitterly._

"_Zack, I actually need to talk to you about something." She sighed and continued. "This is not a good idea. I never have time for you. I…I think we should get back to being friends for now. It's less complicated that way."_

_He didn't respond so she continued._

"_It's not fair to you. I'm always busy, I don't have time for you anymore."_

_He fell silent on the other end._

"_Zack, you still there?"_

"_Why are you giving up?" he asked.  
_

_"Zack, I'm not giving up." she replied patiently. "Giving up is different from letting go.. you give up because there is no chance... you let go.. because both of you needed to grow.." she paused. "We need to grow, Zack. __Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"_

_She heard him sigh on the other line._ "_Maddie, you talk to me as if I'm a stupid kid."_

"_I didn't mean it to sound that way, Zack."_

"_I understand. What can I do? My girlfriend is a very smart person who can do everything she's asked to do." he said with slight sarcasm.  
_

_She smiled, thinking that he understood._ "_I know you'll understand."_

_Maddie seemed to take it lightly, but deep inside, she's hurting. And it took her a while to get over him._

_After her break up with Zack, they hadn't talked eversince. She missed him. According to Cody, Zack is back to the "dating" scene._

_Little did she know, Zack didn't take the break up so well either._

_One day after school, Carey got furious about Zack's exam result.  
_

"_Zack, you failed the history test! How did this happen? Last week you were just bragging about your high quizzes!" she said while holding the test paper in her hand.  
_

_Zack looked down_. "_Uh… The test is really hard."_

"_Zack, be honest with me. Which one's hard? The test or the break up with Maddie?"_

_He didn't reply. Carey knew about the break up. She noticed the change in Zack's behavior lately so she decided to call up Maddie and ask. She told her everything. And Carey understood.  
_

"_Listen to me. I'm not trying to pry, but… you know, Maddie has many responsibilities and she feels guilty for not having time for you. Honey, she loves you, okay? And she wanted me to tell you that because you wouldn't talk to her."_

_Zack just walked towards his bedroom._ "_I am tired. I wanna sleep."_

_He went into his bedroom, leaving Carey confused._

_Once inside, he vented his frustrations. He began talking to himself.  
_

_"Fine! She doesn't want to be with you anymore! So what? There are many fish in the sea! You can call Alice of history class! She's pretty and has a huge crush on you!" he said and paced in his room. "What about your lab partner, Sarah. She's smart and really cute! Or Jenny, the cheerleader! She's the hottest girl in school, and you heard she likes you a lot! You better ask her out!"_

_He picked up the phone and started dialing Jenny's number, but when he heard the ring, he clicked it off._

_He sighed in frustration and fell backwards on his bed. "Oh. Who am I kidding? Maddie is all I ever want!!!" _

_-----------------_

"Maddie, do you wanna dance?" asked Jeff.

"No thanks!" she declined politely.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, Jeff."

It's got to be the saddest birthday she ever had. Zack wouldn't talk to her. He probably forgot about her and moved on, and realized that he should go for girls his age.

She was jealous at the thought. But they weren't meant to be. Zack didn't love her enough to fight for her.

Yes. He's still a kid.

How stupid she was to fall for him?

Was she that vulnerable?

There are so many hot guys in the room but why is she thinking of him?

Moments later, Mary Margaret walked towards her.

"Maddie, look at Trevor and Corrie. Aren't they cute?" she said pointing at them. Since Maddie introduced them to each other, they were inseparable.

"I know!" she said, smiling.

"What are you doing here all by yourself?" Mary Margaret asked.

"Nothing."

Mary Margaret gave her a warm smile.

"Let me guess... you're thinking of Zack?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Why don't you dance with Jeff? He was your crush, remember?"

"That was a long time ago, Mary."

"I heard he wants to ask you out!"

"That's about two years too late, don't you think so?" they laughed.

"I know this is a personal question but you don't have to answer it if you don't want to."

"Go ahead."

"What happened between you and Zack? You used to be so happy when you talk to him or read his emails. I've never seen you that happy before. You were even planning to give him a surprise visit on spring break. What happened?"

"I don't understand him. I really thought I was everything he wanted. I was wrong. He was back to his old ways. I guess he was really too young for me. We're just not meant to be together. I just feel bad because I couldn't bring our friendship back anymore. I just miss him. Terribly. I mean, we have no contact for a year now." she paused and continued. "Maybe he realized that I was such a bore and flirting with different girls is so much fun. I should've known, Mary. It was only a crush. It wasn't love. I bet he doesn't even know what that means. How stupid I was."

Mary gave her a sympathetic look and tapped her shoulder. "Maddie, try to have fun, okay? This is your 17th birthday! You're supposed to enjoy, not to sulk in one corner! There are so many hot guys in here!" she eyed one guy, "Look at Harry of History class, he's fine!"

She gave a small smile. "I'll try, Mary."

-----------------

She sighed and rested her elbow on the table. She really couldn't bring herself to enjoy no matter what she does.

Not too long after Mary Margaret left her table, someone spoke behind her.

"Why the long face? No one's asked you to dance yet?"

Maddie prepared herself to put a fake smile_. Why can't they just leave me alone…_

She turned around and she felt her heart flipped.

When she finally spoke, she found herself stammering. "Z-zack?"

He sat right next to her.

"Do you miss me?" he said with a cocky smile.

Tears instantly fell from her eyes and hugged him like there's no tomorrow. "What took you so long!"

Zack laughed as he hugged her back. "Err... because I don't have an invitation?"

She pulled away and think. "London didn't send you an invitation? She was the one who planned this party for me!"

Carey and Cody sent their gifts via Fedex. When she didn't receive anything from Zack, she really thought he was still mad at her.

"She did; she sent me an invitation but I didn't open it. I didn't want to come her at first. I didn't think you'll like my presence. It was my last minute decision to come here, because I know I'll regret it if I don't."

"You haven't returned my calls! You stopped calling me. What happened?"

"I'm sorry. I just didn't take our break up so well. I thought if I'll stop talking to you, I'll get over you."

"Well... did you?"

"That's why I'm here. Because I couldn't stop thinking of you even if I tried."

_Me too Zack._

But she didn't voice out for some reason. She changed the subject.

"Wait, why are you so dirty? You look like you just crawled out of a vent!"

"That's right! I just crawled out of a vent to get here inside. That was fun!" he said, chuckling.

He hasn't changed at all. Just got taller and the voice got deeper but he still got the boyish charm in him.

"Why did you use the vent when you can use the front door?"

"Well…"

_-----------------_

"_Where's your invitation?" asked the guard standing outside of the Tipton.  
_

"_Huh? Oh... um… see, I have an invitation b-but… I don't have it with me."_

"_If you really have an invitation, you should know that this is a costume party. Where's your costume?"_

"_I… I am wearing it!"_

"_Really? Who are you dressed up as?"_

"_I'm dressed up as Zack Martin!"_

"_Who is Zack Martin? Never heard of him!"_

"_You don't know him? Shame on you mister! He's extremely popular and he happens to wear a shirt and cargo pants a lot."_

"_I still don't know him."_

"_He's a hero. He happens to have the power to wipe someone's tears away just by showing up. Isn't he amazing?"_

"_Yeah, as amazing as it sounds, I still cant let you in."_

"_Okay. I tried." He said in surrender._

_Zack began to think of a way to get in the hotel. He went around the corner and remembered the secret vent. He passed through it and it led to the kitchen. He and Cody used to play in it when they were twelve.  
_

"_Whoa, it feels so good to do it the old fashioned way!" he thought to himself_

_He tried not to get noticed but someone called him_

"_Zack!"_

"_Oh… hey Patrick!"_

"_Hey its you! What on earth are you doing here!"_

"_Uh... visiting!"_

"_You still know your way in here, huh?"_

"_Of course!"_

"_Oh, hey I have a customer waiting! Its really good to see you again, lets catch up later!"_

"_Alright!"_

_He continued to the lobby where are the guests were dancing. He finally spotted Maddie seating in one corner and thought to himself, "God, she was so beautiful..."_

_-----------------_

"That's how I got here." he said. "But I didn't bring a gift with me. I'm sorry."

She gave him a sweet smile. "Zack... You're here. That's all I ever want." Zack was about to kiss her when London suddenly passed by and interrupted them. "Zack, is that you?"

"Hey London!"

London looked at him from head to foot, and laughed. "Why are you covered with filth? Oh I know! You're dressed up as a homeless person!"

"Hahahaha. Tell Moseby to clean up the vent!"

"Hey, Maddie's not enjoying the party. But now, look at her smile..."

"Is that why you're sad? Cos I'm not here?"

"Of course! She's been like that since the party started!"

"Oh... really?"

"Oh hey, I'll go ahead!"

"London, Cody says hi!"

She smiled sweetly. "Aww... he's so sweet! I just talked to him awhile ago! Tell him I said hello!" she said, and walked away.

"Oh... so she's the one Cody is calling when he hides in the closet!" he blurted. "He's trying to hide it, but now I busted him!"

"You know, London is also hiding something from me. She's nicer to everyone! I wonder why..." she said sarcastically.

Jeff suddenly joined their table. "Do you want something to drink, Maddie?"

"Oh no thank you. By the way, Zack, this is Jeff. Jeff, this is Zack, my…" she glanced at Zack. "…my friend."

_I remember him! Maddie's got a big crush on him!_ "Oh remember him from your prom." he said while shaking hands with him.

"Excuse me guys, I'll be right back." Maddie stood up, leaving them.

Jeff looked at her. "I want to ask her out. I hope she'll say yes."

Zack felt a stab of jealousy.

"Of course, she'll say yes." he replied, thinking that Maddie still got feelings for Jeff.

"Thanks! You know, I really want to get to know her better. I've never been so interested in a girl before."

_We're over. There's no reason to stop her from seeing other guys._

He gave him a weak smile. "I can help you."

_-----------------_

After a few minutes, Maddie got back to the table but noticed that Zack was gone.

"Where is he?" she asked

"Oh, he left, but he didn't tell me where he's going."

"Really?" she said in disappointment

"He told me interesting things about you."

"Such as?"

"Well, let's see… according to him…" he started to narrate what Zack told him.

_-----------------_

"_I've known her for years. Maddie's not that hard to get along with. Of course she has her days but that's what makes her lovable. If you really are serious with her and you wanna make her happy, follow these ten rules, and you'll never go wrong._

_One, call her sweet thang. Sometimes she gets annoyed but I know she secretly likes it.  
_

_Two, when she asked you to spy on London using her camera phone, do it. When you get caught, don't worry, you can still get a hug from her.  
_

_Three, if you can't think of a gift for her, give her a China cup with her name painted on it, her favorite tea imported from India, and a box of cinnamon sticks. You'll never go wrong with it. Just make sure that no one will sneak in a card with a different name on it.  
_

_Four, she's a big reader so make sure to familiarize yourself with Shakespeare, Jane Austen… pretty much any famous writer from the 17th and 18th century. Preferably a love story._

_Five, whatever you do, never say anything bad against the environment in front of her. If you love trees, that's better. If you know how to recycle, that's much better._

_Six, tell her how pretty she is when she's angry. She'll get furious, and boy that makes her gorgeous._

_Seven, she loves chicken soup. Make her one when she's having a bad day. She'll love you for it._

_Eight, she has a little brother named Liam. He's a booger. Don't take him seriously.  
_

_Nine, be prepared to get yelled at when she doesn't get enough sleep. Remind her that a sleep is always a good thing.  
_

_And lastly, show up at her birthday party even if you're the only guest. It'll be the greatest gift you can give her."_

_"So Jeff, the bottom line is, always__ think of something to make her day, and you will be fine."_

_-----------------_

"Wow, I have a good memory!" he said, not realizing that each sentence breaks her heart.

Maddie was starting to tear up. She realized just how much he means to her. She excused herself and tried to find him among the crowd, but he wasn't there. She walked over to Moseby.

"Mr. Moseby, have you seen Zack?"

"Yes, he already went outside."

She immediately walked outside and looked for him. She quickly spotted him.

"Zack wait!"

Zack turned around. When she reached him, she hugged him really tight.

"Why are you crying?"

Zack hugged her back, confused about the way she acted.

"Because I'm so stupid to let go of someone who knows me more than I know myself..."

He blinked at her.

Looking in his eyes, she continued. "No one had ever loved me the way you did..."

Zack formed a smile on his lips. "And until now, I still don't know what I ever saw in you..."

She jokingly hit his arm. "Do you really have to leave?"

He nodded. "I have to. I just stopped by to wish you a Happy Birthday."

"How can I be happy when you're not here to celebrate it with me?"

"What do you mean?"

She took a deep breath and continued. "I want you to stay and make this the happiest birthday I ever had."

How can he resist her?

"I'm really powerless when it comes to you." he said, smiling coyly at her

She smiled. "But first, clean up after yourself!"

They chuckled. "Hey, only I can look hot in filth!"

She smiled and she held his hand.

"Let's hit the party, sweet thang!" he paused, "Oh, wait, I don't have a costume!"

"Oh, trust me. You don't need it!"

They walked back inside and they had a great time. Zack didn't leave her side. Needless to say, they got back together that very same night.

And this time she'll keep him. Forever.

* * *

_A/N: There you go. That's the ending. Excuse me while I cry... :)_

_Ohmigod! 22 chapters?! I'd written this story from May 2006 to March 2007 with just a mere idea of having the Martins leave the hotel while Zack would think of ways to stay because of Maddie, obviously I'm a big Zack and Maddie shipper! lol But that was all I had the first day the idea came to me. I didn't really expect to finish this. And its all because of your wonderful reviews! This was on hiatus for three months because I ran out of ideas after the first three chapters, but I got bored one day and read the reviews and I decided to continue.  
_

_I really had fun writing this story! I particularly loved writing Zack's dialogue because he's interesting and he's so arrogant but funny... I just like his character! Maddie, on the other hand, is more like me so its easy for me to describe her feelings because I'm going through the same thing. But not with Zack. lol  
_

_Sorry about the cheesy songs I included in this fic. I just really love old songs:)  
_

_ I really don't know what else to say. I just wanna thank you all for reviewing, I really appreciate each and every single review you guys are leaving._

_**CiralFox, Chel08, Hayden, Sam, stessa, SparklyZanessaFan, WKDVIP2, Lennie1984, mysticpearl, hsmtroyella and Mrs. Musso (whew that was long! lol), StarWarsRules and to everyone else who reviewed this story, THANK YOU SO, SO, SO MUCH! **_

_Thank you for inspiring me. :)  
_

_By the way, I got the "Ten Rules" from the movie My Sassy Girl. I don't know if you're familiar with it but its a great movie! I just thought it would fit the story. :) _

_I'll surely miss updating this story! If you have questions or anything you want to tell me, please feel free to pm me or leave a message in the review section and I'll try to reply. I'll still visit this site to read my favorite Zack and Maddie stories! _

_I love you guys:) __Take care!  
_

_-Missy-_


End file.
